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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 116 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. snap — to click
  9. ball — a dance
  10. court — for sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. ball — a great time
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. squash — the sport
  15. court — of law
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. court — of a king
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. game — a match
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. squash — to crush
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. game — wild animals

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