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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 116 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tube — the underground
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. tube — a container
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. game — wild animals
  15. shower — rain
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fork — in a road
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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