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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: deal · bound · swing · stem · patient · row · tear · kid

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. deal — to handle
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. bound — tied together
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bound — certain
  8. kid — child
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. tear — to rip
  11. row — to paddle
  12. swing — in golf
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. tear — from crying
  15. swing — music
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stem — to come from
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bound — obliged
  23. deal — an agreement
  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