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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — to grow
  4. clip — to cut
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. spell — letters
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. net — in sport
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. net — for catching
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — not warm
  15. net — after costs
  16. spell — magic
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. stem — to come from
  20. spell — a short time
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. stem — of a plant

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