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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 120 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. staff — employees
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. staff — employees
  10. chest — of your body
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. degree — temperature
  16. staff — a stick
  17. chest — a box
  18. deal — to handle
  19. chest — of your body
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. degree — from a university
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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