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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 · sharp · stem · tube · wake · tear · fall · kid

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. tube — the underground
  3. kid — child
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fall — to drop
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fall — to drop
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tube — a container
  21. stem — to come from
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — a trail
  24. tear — from crying

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