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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: wax · craft · lean · clip · capital · date · bound · stem

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. stem — to come from
  3. craft — a skill
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — boats
  8. bound — tied together
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. capital — a city
  12. lean — to bend
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. lean — thin
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. clip — a video
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. bound — obliged
  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