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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. lie — to recline
  5. chair — a leader
  6. field — for sport
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ground — a position
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. ground — crushed
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. stem — to come from
  21. ground — the earth
  22. field — a subject
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. field — farmland

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