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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. game — wild animals
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bass — the fish
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cell — a phone
  10. net — after costs
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. date — the fruit
  13. bass — low music
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. root — the cause
  17. game — a match
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wax — to grow
  20. net — in sport
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. net — for catching
  24. cell — in biology

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