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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pop — soda
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. net — in sport
  6. pop — to visit
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. game — wild animals
  11. net — after costs
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. net — for catching
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. game — a match
  17. pop — music
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wax — to grow
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. branch — a division

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