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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pop — music
  4. pop — to visit
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. pop — soda
  7. wound — an injury
  8. shower — to wash
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a tool
  11. stem — to come from
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. file — a document
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — rain
  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