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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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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: fork · sharp · stem · clip · chest · wax · court · race

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. race — humankind
  5. court — for sport
  6. clip — a video
  7. sharp — clever
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. court — of a king
  11. chest — a box
  12. race — a contest
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. fork — in a road
  20. race — the arms race
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. court — of law
  23. wax — to grow
  24. clip — for paper

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