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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stem — to come from
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. rest — what's left
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rest — a break
  12. bank — for money
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wax — to grow
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rest — what's left
  20. hand — help
  21. fork — in a road
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. stem — of a plant

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