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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. club — for dancing
  5. mine — for digging
  6. sharp — clever
  7. pit — a hole
  8. drill — the tool
  9. wax — to grow
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pit — in a race
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. drill — a practice
  15. club — for golf
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. club — a group
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wake — a trail

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