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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — not warm
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spell — magic
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stem — to come from
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wax — to grow
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. vault — a safe
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. spell — letters
  22. prune — to trim
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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