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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. ground — crushed
  3. scale — in music
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stem — to come from
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. tube — a container
  11. stock — goods
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. ground — the earth
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — to grow
  20. scale — size or range
  21. stock — shares
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — a position
  24. tube — the underground

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