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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. club — a group
  4. game — wild animals
  5. club — for golf
  6. stock — goods
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. clip — to cut
  9. club — for dancing
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — in biology
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. track — to keep track
  14. track — a song
  15. clip — a video
  16. track — a path
  17. stock — shares
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cell — a phone

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