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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 120 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: stem · shower · clip · tear · bat · pass · ruler · bowl

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. tear — to rip
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. pass — a permit
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. stem — to come from
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. clip — for paper
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — the animal
  22. shower — rain
  23. bowl — a football final
  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