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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: chest · cell · calf · clip · stem · fine · bay · wax

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. clip — to cut
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. cell — a phone
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. wax — to grow
  8. fine — high quality
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. fine — all right
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. clip — a video
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. chest — a box
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. clip — for paper
  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