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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stand — to bear
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. wax — to grow
  9. fall — the season
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. stem — to come from
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. fall — to drop
  19. scale — in music
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — the animal
  22. scale — size or range
  23. fall — to drop
  24. arm — part of the body

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