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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. last — final
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — a match
  9. present — there
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. present — the time now
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. last — to go on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pit — in a race
  24. pit — a hole

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