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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wax — to grow
  3. squash — to crush
  4. net — in sport
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — to come from
  7. tube — the underground
  8. track — a path
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. land — a country
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. net — after costs
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. track — a song
  16. net — for catching
  17. lean — thin
  18. track — to keep track
  19. land — ground
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. land — to come down
  23. tube — a container
  24. squash — the sport

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