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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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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: pop · chair · stem · net · wound · wax · tear · nail

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wax — to grow
  3. pop — to visit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. tear — to rip
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. net — for catching
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. chair — a leader
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pop — soda
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. stem — to come from
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. net — after costs
  22. pop — music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. net — in sport

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