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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. game — a match
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — music
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. game — wild animals
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. swing — in golf
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wound — an injury
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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