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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 116 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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. band — a music group
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. wax — to grow
  12. lean — to bend
  13. wind — moving air
  14. band — a ring
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. stem — to come from
  22. lean — thin
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bat — in an idiom

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