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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. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bound — tied together
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mine — for digging
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stem — to come from
  13. bound — certain
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bound — obliged
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. kid — child
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — not warm

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