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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · land · cue · perch · hand · tear · current · stem

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. current — happening now
  3. tear — to rip
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cue — a signal
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. perch — the fish
  19. current — electric
  20. land — a country
  21. current — of water
  22. cue — for pool
  23. land — ground
  24. hand — help

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