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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. staff — employees
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. staff — employees
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chair — a leader
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bat — for baseball

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