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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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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: wound · pit · fall · wax · cue · race · stem · spell

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cue — a hint
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — magic
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spell — letters
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. race — a contest
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cue — a signal
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pit — in a race
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. stem — to come from
  19. race — humankind
  20. fall — the season
  21. cue — for pool
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. fall — to drop

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