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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. fall — to drop
  5. press — a publisher
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. game — a match
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. wax — to grow
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cap — of ice
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cap — a hat
  20. press — to push
  21. game — wild animals
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fall — the season

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