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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. band — a music group
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mate — a partner
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. mate — a friend
  12. roll — a cake
  13. band — a ring
  14. fall — the season
  15. wax — to grow
  16. snap — to click
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mate — to breed
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. kick — in football
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — a list

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