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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wax — to grow
  4. shower — rain
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. field — farmland
  7. cap — of ice
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. sharp — clever
  10. stem — to come from
  11. field — a subject
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. cap — a lid
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. field — for sport
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. mark — a trace
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mark — a grade
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. wax — in the ear

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