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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: stem · ball · tear · bay · ground · saw · game · hand

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. tear — from crying
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — from crying
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. ground — a position
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — in cards
  18. ball — a dance
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. game — a match
  22. tear — to rip
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. saw — the tool

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