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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 116 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 · hand · cap · file · straw · mark · tear · patient

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. file — a tool
  3. stem — to come from
  4. cap — of ice
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — help
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. cap — a hat
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a document
  15. mark — a trace
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. cap — a lid
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mark — a grade
  23. file — a line of people
  24. straw — dry grass

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