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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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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: club · stem · kid · spring · wax · march · fall · tube

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. club — for golf
  4. march — music
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — the season
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. fall — the season
  11. tube — the underground
  12. kid — to tease
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for dancing
  15. tube — a container
  16. kid — child
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fall — to drop
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. march — the month
  23. spring — of water
  24. wax — to grow

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