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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. wax — to grow
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mug — a face
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mug — to rob
  12. tear — from crying
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. stem — to come from
  16. wound — an injury
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wound — an injury
  19. file — a tool
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. scale — in music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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