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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: race · lie · rock · stem · tear · chest · kick · clip

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. race — a contest
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — a box
  12. race — the arms race
  13. rock — music
  14. race — humankind
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. clip — a video
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. clip — to cut
  20. lie — to recline
  21. kick — in football
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — to move gently
  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