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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. spring — of water
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. file — a tool
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — soda
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spring — a coil
  13. file — a document
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pop — music
  17. spring — the season
  18. face — to confront
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. face — part of the head
  22. stem — to come from
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. wax — to grow

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