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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. ground — a position
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. spell — letters
  5. wax — to grow
  6. firm — a company
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. ground — crushed
  11. deal — to handle
  12. spell — a short time
  13. press — a publisher
  14. firm — steady
  15. firm — decided
  16. spell — magic
  17. kid — child
  18. band — a music group
  19. press — to push
  20. ground — the earth
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. press — newspapers

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