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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 124 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 was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — magic
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wax — to grow
  9. capital — a city
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. net — for catching
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. capital — money
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cue — for pool
  21. net — in sport
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — a short time

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