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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mine — for digging
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. scale — in music
  11. present — there
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. game — a match
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. net — after costs
  19. present — the time now
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. scale — size or range
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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