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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: net · tear · wound · file · clip · jam · stem · bore

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bore — to tire
  6. net — in sport
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a document
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stem — to come from
  13. file — a tool
  14. bore — to drill
  15. net — for catching
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. clip — to cut
  19. file — a line of people
  20. clip — a video
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. net — after costs

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