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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 116 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 · stem · pitch · shower · cue · chair · bear · field

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. shower — rain
  3. cue — a signal
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cue — for pool
  10. field — a subject
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. field — farmland
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. field — for sport
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chair — a leader
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitch — completely
  24. stem — to come from

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