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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. last — finally
  6. squash — to crush
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — to go on
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rash — hasty
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rash — a series
  15. last — final
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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