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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. rule — government
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spring — the season
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — of water
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rule — a law
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. stem — to come from

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