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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. stem — to come from
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — the earth
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. court — for sport
  11. chair — a leader
  12. ground — a position
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. game — a match
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. court — of a king
  21. game — wild animals
  22. court — of law
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. calf — of the leg

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