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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. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. stem — to come from
  5. kid — to tease
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wax — to grow
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. date — the fruit
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. scale — in music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. kid — child
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. scale — size or range
  22. pass — a permit
  23. fall — the season
  24. capital — a city

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