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

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. mate — to breed
  5. stem — to come from
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wax — to grow
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. tube — a container
  12. pop — to visit
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. pop — soda
  15. snap — to click
  16. mate — a friend
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. pop — music
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. file — a tool
  21. craft — a skill
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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