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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rock — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mate — a partner
  8. ground — a position
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wax — to grow
  16. mate — to breed
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ground — the earth

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