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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. board — to get on
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. board — a committee
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. rule — a law
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. field — for sport
  14. bat — the animal
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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