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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: clip · last · mouse · stem · tear · mug · prune · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. clip — for paper
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — to cut
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mug — to rob
  15. last — to go on
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. last — finally
  19. mug — a face
  20. stem — to come from
  21. mug — a cup
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — final

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