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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. object — to protest
  3. stem — to come from
  4. degree — from a university
  5. object — an aim
  6. spring — the season
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. land — to come down
  9. stand — to bear
  10. wax — to grow
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — for golf
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. degree — an amount
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. club — a group
  18. degree — temperature
  19. object — a thing
  20. land — ground
  21. land — a country
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. spring — of water

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