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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: stem · cue · tear · club · file · arm · hide · game

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — a hint
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. club — a group
  7. game — a match
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. club — for dancing
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cue — for pool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. arm — part of the body

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