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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. pop — soda
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pop — to visit
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. hand — help
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. land — ground
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. date — the fruit
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. land — to come down
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. pop — music
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. deal — to handle
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wax — to grow
  22. shower — rain
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — a country

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