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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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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: tear · bear · wound · coach · rash · stem · content · current

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stem — to come from
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. rash — hasty
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bear — the animal
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. current — electric
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rash — a series
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. current — happening now
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. current — of water
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. content — the amount

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