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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bank — for money
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. last — finally
  5. bank — for money
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stem — to come from
  8. capital — a city
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. capital — money
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. last — to go on
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. last — final
  17. bank — of a river
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. degree — temperature
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. straw — dry grass

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