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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: straw · content · clip · stem · tear · fall · patient · kick

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. clip — for paper
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fall — the season
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. kick — in football
  11. clip — to cut
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fall — to drop
  15. tear — to rip
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. content — the amount
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fall — to drop
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — happy
  23. stem — to come from
  24. patient — a sick person

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