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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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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 · craft · chest · tear · club · last · snap · hand

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to click
  4. last — to go on
  5. club — for dancing
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. chest — of your body
  9. last — final
  10. chest — of your body
  11. craft — a skill
  12. stem — to come from
  13. club — for golf
  14. tear — to rip
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. last — finally
  17. hand — in cards
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. craft — boats
  21. club — a group
  22. hand — help
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. tear — from crying

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