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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wax — to grow
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. land — to come down
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. ground — a position
  10. kid — child
  11. ground — crushed
  12. drill — a practice
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — the earth
  15. land — ground
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. land — a country
  19. drill — the tool
  20. stem — to come from
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — to wash
  23. kid — to tease
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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