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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — a weight
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. season — in sport
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. craft — boats
  17. ground — a position
  18. cold — not warm
  19. hand — help
  20. craft — a skill
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. season — of the year
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pound — for dogs

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