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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. stem — to come from
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. ground — crushed
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. stock — goods
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pitcher — a jug

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