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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — final
  4. shower — rain
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. branch — a division
  8. wax — to grow
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. shower — to wash
  12. last — to go on
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. last — finally
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. branch — of a bank

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