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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 120 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. present — there
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. present — a gift
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. wax — to grow
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. last — final
  10. stock — shares
  11. spell — letters
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — of a river
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. bank — for money
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. present — the time now
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stock — goods
  24. calf — a young animal

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