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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: stem · present · clip · cue · chest · lean · cold · squash

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. present — the time now
  8. cue — a hint
  9. chest — a box
  10. lean — thin
  11. present — a gift
  12. cue — for pool
  13. clip — a video
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cue — a signal
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. chest — of your body
  19. present — there
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stem — to come from
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cold — an illness
  24. lean — to bend

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