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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. present — there
  5. game — wild animals
  6. scale — in music
  7. game — a match
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — the time now
  10. kid — to tease
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. kid — child
  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