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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: rash · wake · clip · shower · bat · stem · mark · wax

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mark — a trace
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rash — a series
  5. stem — to come from
  6. wake — a trail
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. shower — rain
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mark — a grade
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. bat — for baseball

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