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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — letters
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wax — to grow
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. march — music
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. march — the month
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — a position
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bass — the fish
  22. spell — a short time
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. bass — low music

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