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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 a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. spell — letters
  9. wax — to grow
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spell — a short time
  13. root — of a word
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. root — of a plant
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spell — magic
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. cold — not warm
  24. root — the cause

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