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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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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: board · tear · bat · patient · stem · rest · wax · swing

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. board — a committee
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. swing — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wax — to grow
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. board — to get on
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. tear — from crying
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rest — what's left
  19. tear — to rip
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bat — the animal

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