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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. kid — child
  3. net — after costs
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wax — to grow
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. net — for catching
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. drill — the tool
  14. net — in sport
  15. drill — a practice
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. drill — army training
  19. swing — in golf
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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