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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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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: branch · file · tear · stem · racket · row · clip · wake

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stem — to come from
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. branch — a division
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — a video
  10. row — a line
  11. file — a document
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. clip — to cut
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. row — to paddle
  18. file — a line of people
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a tool
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wake — a trail
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. racket — a loud noise

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