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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. toast — bread
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a dance
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. stock — shares
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — to handle

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