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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — low music
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bulb — for light
  8. shower — to wash
  9. stem — to come from
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. shower — rain
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bulb — for light
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wax — to grow
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bass — the instrument

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