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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 120 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. race — a contest
  5. stem — to come from
  6. spring — of water
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spring — the season
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. wind — moving air
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wax — to grow
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. cap — a hat
  16. race — humankind
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. lean — to bend
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — a phone
  22. lean — thin
  23. cap — a lid
  24. wind — to turn a key

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