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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. net — for catching
  3. kid — child
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rest — what's left
  6. press — to push
  7. clip — a video
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. last — to go on
  10. kid — to tease
  11. net — after costs
  12. stem — to come from
  13. last — final
  14. net — in sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. rest — a break
  17. clip — for paper
  18. last — finally
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. press — newspapers
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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