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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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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 · wax · clip · spell · fall · file · scale · band

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fall — to drop
  3. band — a music group
  4. scale — size or range
  5. clip — for paper
  6. file — a tool
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. spell — a short time
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. file — a document
  11. fall — the season
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fall — to drop
  16. clip — a video
  17. wax — to grow
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. scale — in music
  20. band — a ring
  21. stem — to come from
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spell — magic
  24. file — a line of people

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