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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. game — a match
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cap — a hat
  10. last — final
  11. last — finally
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pound — a weight
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. last — to go on
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. wax — to grow

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