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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bulb — for light
  4. land — ground
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. land — to come down
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rash — hasty
  19. mate — a friend
  20. land — a country
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rash — a series
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — to cool the air

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