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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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Word bank
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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: tear · wound · hand · vault · land · pop · stem · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tear — from crying
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. stem — to come from
  7. land — to come down
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. tear — to rip
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. vault — a safe
  16. land — a country
  17. pop — soda
  18. land — ground
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — music
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. tear — from crying

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