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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. last — finally
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. present — the time now
  6. land — ground
  7. row — to paddle
  8. present — a gift
  9. land — to come down
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a line
  12. wax — to grow
  13. present — there
  14. last — final
  15. chest — a box
  16. last — to go on
  17. land — a country
  18. chest — of your body

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