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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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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: last · nail · tube · stem · wax · mine · file · squash

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. squash — to crush
  4. wax — to grow
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. tube — the underground
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. last — finally
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. last — to go on
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. file — a document
  15. squash — the sport
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. tube — a container
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. file — a tool
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mine — for digging

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