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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pop — music
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. snap — to click
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. drill — a practice
  15. pop — to visit
  16. drill — the tool
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lie — to recline
  24. pop — soda

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