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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. wax — to grow
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. march — music
  9. craft — boats
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rash — a series
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stem — to come from
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. date — the fruit
  18. march — the month
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. craft — a skill
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. march — the month

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