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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: degree · bound · bore · prune · sharp · stem · wax · kid

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. prune — to trim
  4. kid — child
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bore — to tire
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bound — obliged
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stem — to come from
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wax — to grow
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bound — certain
  24. sharp — exactly

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