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

Word bank: stock · stem · bay · wax · wake · chair · tear · chest

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. stock — shares
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stock — goods
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. tear — to rip
  22. chest — a box
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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