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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cue — a signal
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. land — to come down
  7. mate — a friend
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cue — a hint
  14. mate — a partner
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. vault — a safe
  17. press — a publisher
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wax — to grow
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. land — a country
  23. cue — for pool
  24. press — to push

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