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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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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: rule · racket · temple · staff · tear · clip · root · wound

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. root — of a word
  5. rule — a law
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. clip — a video
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. tear — to rip
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — for paper
  20. root — of a plant
  21. tear — from crying
  22. root — the cause
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rule — government

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