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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. stem — to come from
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. tear — from crying
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. tear — to rip
  9. net — for catching
  10. branch — a division
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. tear — from crying
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. net — after costs
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. net — in sport
  24. wax — to grow

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