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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 120 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: mine · court · clip · staff · arm · stem · pound · tear

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — of law
  4. staff — employees
  5. court — for sport
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. court — of a king
  8. clip — to cut
  9. stem — to come from
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. staff — employees
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. tear — from crying
  18. staff — a stick
  19. mine — for digging
  20. pound — a weight
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. clip — a video

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