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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. race — a contest
  3. last — finally
  4. season — of the year
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. season — in sport
  7. wax — to grow
  8. perch — the fish
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. race — the arms race
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. can — a tin
  17. race — humankind
  18. stem — to come from
  19. can — a tin
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. can — to be able to
  24. stem — of a plant

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