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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: rest · safe · stem · march · spring · wax · clip · straw

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. stem — to come from
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — a break
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — a coil
  12. clip — a video
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. spring — of water
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rest — what's left
  18. wax — to grow
  19. rest — what's left
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. spring — the season
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. march — music

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