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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · stem · tear · club · rock · face

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — to confront
  3. tear — to rip
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. club — for dancing
  9. kid — child
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for golf
  12. stem — to come from
  13. rock — music
  14. face — part of the head
  15. rock — a stone
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. face — to point toward
  18. club — a group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com