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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: bound · wax · stem · net · mine · kid · sharp · track

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. track — a song
  4. mine — for digging
  5. net — after costs
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. kid — to tease
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. track — to keep track
  15. kid — child
  16. wax — to grow
  17. net — for catching
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bound — obliged
  20. stem — to come from
  21. bound — certain
  22. track — a path
  23. net — in sport
  24. bound — tied together

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