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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 was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — crushed
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. chest — a box
  8. ground — the earth
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. net — for catching
  14. wind — moving air
  15. last — finally
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. band — a music group
  18. ground — a position
  19. band — a ring
  20. net — in sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. wax — to grow

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