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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. pit — in a race
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. bear — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. row — a line
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bear — the animal
  18. shower — rain
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pit — a hole

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