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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: wax · stem · fork · snap · bound · straw · cold · bat

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bound — certain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. snap — to click
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bound — tied together
  22. stem — to come from
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. fork — to eat with

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