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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wax — to grow
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ball — a dance
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. cap — a hat
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lie — to recline
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. ground — a position
  16. game — wild animals
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. game — a match
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cap — of ice
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cap — a lid
  24. ground — the earth

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