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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: tear · chest · pound · craft · clip · shower · date · stand

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — a video
  3. tear — to rip
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chest — a box
  8. tear — from crying
  9. date — the fruit
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stand — to bear
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. tear — from crying
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — boats
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. shower — rain
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pound — a weight
  24. shower — to wash

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