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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: row · clip · wax · tear · bank · hand · fork · stem

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. bank — for money
  11. row — a line
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bank — for money
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bank — of a river
  19. row — to paddle
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — to come from
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. fork — a garden tool

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