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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wound — an injury
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bass — low music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. bass — the fish
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. last — to go on
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. last — finally
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. wax — to grow
  19. last — final
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — a tool

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