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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · sharp · hand · wax · cap · field

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. sharp — clever
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. field — a subject
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. hand — in cards
  8. field — farmland
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cap — a hat
  13. field — for sport
  14. cap — a lid
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cap — of ice
  17. stem — to come from
  18. hand — help

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