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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: wax · cell · land · saw · ground · scale · last · root

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. ground — a position
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. last — final
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. ground — crushed
  7. root — of a word
  8. ground — the earth
  9. land — ground
  10. last — to go on
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. scale — in music
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. root — the cause
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. saw — the tool
  20. scale — size or range
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — to grow
  23. root — of a plant
  24. last — finally

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