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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. stem — to come from
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. march — the month
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. march — music
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. net — in sport
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. tear — from crying
  15. net — for catching
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tear — from crying
  18. object — an aim
  19. object — to protest
  20. mine — for digging
  21. march — the month
  22. object — a thing
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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