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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. rash — hasty
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wax — to grow
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cell — a phone
  7. row — to paddle
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. board — to get on
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rash — a series
  14. track — a song
  15. cell — in biology
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. cold — not warm
  18. row — a line
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. track — a path
  21. track — to keep track
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. board — a committee
  24. cold — an illness

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