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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 116 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kid — child
  3. mate — a partner
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wound — an injury
  6. scale — in music
  7. land — to come down
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitch — completely
  17. land — ground
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. kid — to tease
  23. land — a country
  24. wound — an injury

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