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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. stem — to come from
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. last — finally
  8. root — of a plant
  9. ball — a dance
  10. stock — shares
  11. root — of a word
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stock — goods
  15. last — final
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wax — to grow
  18. last — to go on
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. root — the cause
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — all right
  24. ball — a great time

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