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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stem — to come from
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. lean — thin
  6. rush — hurry
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. row — to paddle
  17. capital — a city
  18. row — a line
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. lean — to bend
  23. capital — money
  24. wax — to grow

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