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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  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. club — for dancing
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. row — to paddle
  5. spring — the season
  6. club — a group
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. club — for golf
  9. snap — to click
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. spring — a coil
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. row — a line
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stem — to come from
  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