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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ground — the earth
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wax — to grow
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — a position
  19. hand — help
  20. chest — of your body
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. ruler — for measuring

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