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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: wind · rock · craft · stem · staff · game · hand · tear

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. tear — from crying
  3. craft — boats
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. staff — employees
  9. game — a match
  10. wind — moving air
  11. craft — a skill
  12. tear — to rip
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. hand — in cards
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wind — moving air

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