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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 116 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cue — a hint
  3. rock — a stone
  4. face — part of the head
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rock — music
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. spring — of water
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. cue — for pool
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. face — to point toward
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. face — to confront
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. perch — the fish
  22. game — a match
  23. cue — a signal
  24. game — a kind of play

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