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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. foot — a measure
  4. land — a country
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cell — a phone
  7. row — a line
  8. land — ground
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. object — an aim
  11. land — to come down
  12. cell — in biology
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. object — a thing
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pop — music
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. pop — soda
  23. object — to protest
  24. row — to paddle

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