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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 116 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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bound — certain
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. net — for catching
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fine — all right
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bound — obliged
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wax — to grow
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. last — final

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