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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: bear · stem · fall · wax · shower · lie · chair · degree

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stem — to come from
  4. degree — temperature
  5. shower — rain
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. fall — to drop
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fall — the season
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. shower — to wash
  20. bear — the animal
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. lie — to recline
  23. fall — to drop
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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