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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: tear · clip · stem · prune · face · lie · row · saw

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. saw — the tool
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. clip — for paper
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a line
  10. saw — the tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tear — to rip
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stem — to come from
  16. clip — a video
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. prune — to trim
  21. face — part of the head
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. tear — from crying
  24. face — to point toward

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