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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. tear — from crying
  3. stem — to come from
  4. court — for sport
  5. wax — to grow
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. root — of a word
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. tear — to rip
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. root — the cause
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. tear — from crying
  22. root — of a plant
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. kick — in football

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