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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. wax — to grow
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. object — to protest
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a face
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. mug — a cup
  11. court — of law
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. file — a tool
  16. cell — in biology
  17. stem — to come from
  18. object — a thing
  19. court — for sport
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. mark — a trace
  22. court — of a king
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. cell — a phone

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