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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stem — to come from
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wax — to grow
  8. plane — a tool
  9. ball — a dance
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. file — a tool
  12. pit — in a race
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. club — for golf
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. ball — a great time
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. club — a group
  23. club — for dancing
  24. lean — to bend

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