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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: kid · last · fall · stem · tear · season · rash · clip

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. last — final
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. last — to go on
  5. clip — a video
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kid — to tease
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fall — to drop
  12. season — of the year
  13. fall — to drop
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. fall — the season
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rash — hasty
  21. season — in sport
  22. clip — for paper
  23. last — finally
  24. kid — child

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