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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — a company
  11. saw — the tool
  12. spell — letters
  13. firm — decided
  14. cold — an illness
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. wax — to grow
  17. spell — a short time
  18. firm — steady
  19. saw — the tool
  20. face — to confront
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. game — wild animals
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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