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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. track — a path
  4. wax — to grow
  5. kick — in football
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — a song
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. track — to keep track
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. present — there
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. present — the time now
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. rock — a stone
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. straw — a straw man

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