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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 120 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: stem · clip · mine · racket · ruler · shower · ground · wax

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. clip — a video
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. ground — crushed
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. ground — the earth
  19. shower — rain
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. clip — to cut
  24. ground — a position

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