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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 120 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: clip · fan · bound · tear · cap · stem · track · shower

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. track — to keep track
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cap — a lid
  7. tear — from crying
  8. shower — rain
  9. bound — certain
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bound — tied together
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cap — a hat
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. cap — of ice
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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