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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spell — letters
  6. root — of a word
  7. firm — decided
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — magic
  10. game — a match
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — the earth
  14. firm — steady
  15. firm — a company
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a plant
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. wax — to grow
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wind — to turn a key

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