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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: chest · tear · arm · kid · file · cue · stem · track

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. cue — for pool
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — to rip
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. track — to keep track
  10. chest — of your body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. cue — a hint
  13. chest — a box
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kid — child
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. kid — to tease
  21. track — a song
  22. stem — to come from
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cue — a signal

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