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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 116 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. spring — a coil
  3. rush — hurry
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — a subject
  8. stock — shares
  9. present — there
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. spring — of water
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. present — the time now
  16. field — farmland
  17. present — a gift
  18. bass — low music
  19. field — for sport
  20. bass — the fish
  21. wax — to grow
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stock — goods

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