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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pop — soda
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. kid — child
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wax — to grow
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. pop — music
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. squash — to crush
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. shower — rain
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. saw — the tool
  24. plane — a tool

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