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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 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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. shower — to wash
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. squash — the sport
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. toast — bread
  12. squash — to crush
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ground — crushed
  18. wax — to grow

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