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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fine — high quality
  4. last — to go on
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. last — final
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — to grow
  12. last — finally
  13. track — a song
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — a friend
  16. track — a path
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. track — to keep track
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. fine — all right
  24. cold — an illness

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