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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. firm — steady
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. bat — the animal
  10. squash — the sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. sharp — clever
  13. firm — a company
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. firm — decided
  17. hand — help
  18. capital — money
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wax — to grow
  22. stem — to come from
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. stem — a stem cell

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