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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cell — in biology
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bore — to drill
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wax — to grow
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bore — to tire
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. court — of law
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. court — for sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. court — of a king
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. wake — a trail

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