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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: cold · wax · tear · straw · branch · ball · stem · club

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wax — to grow
  9. tear — from crying
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. club — for golf
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. ball — a dance
  17. tear — to rip
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. ball — a great time
  20. club — for dancing
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. club — a group
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cold — an illness

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