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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. club — for dancing
  3. band — a music group
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. club — for golf
  6. present — there
  7. fork — in a road
  8. spell — letters
  9. band — a ring
  10. present — the time now
  11. drill — the tool
  12. drill — a practice
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wax — to grow
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. hand — help
  18. spell — a short time
  19. drill — army training
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. spell — magic
  23. club — a group
  24. present — a gift

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