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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 120 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: pop · cap · land · tube · board · mine · wax · stem

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. wax — to grow
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. pop — soda
  8. cap — of ice
  9. tube — the underground
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pop — music
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. board — a committee
  15. pop — to visit
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. board — to get on
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cap — a hat
  21. land — ground
  22. tube — a container
  23. cap — a lid
  24. stem — of a plant

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