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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. season — of the year
  9. drill — the tool
  10. bore — to drill
  11. root — of a word
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. season — in sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bore — to tire
  16. root — of a plant
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. root — the cause
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stem — to come from
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. wax — to grow

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