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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. degree — from a university
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. stem — to come from
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. hand — help
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cold — an illness
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. fork — in a road
  20. bore — to drill
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — the Cold War

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