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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. spring — of water
  5. drill — army training
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wax — to grow
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. file — a line of people
  22. toast — bread
  23. fall — the season
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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