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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. root — of a word
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — army training
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — for catching
  10. cold — an illness
  11. drill — a practice
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. last — final
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. root — the cause
  16. drill — the tool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. last — finally
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wax — to grow
  22. root — of a plant
  23. last — to go on
  24. net — in sport

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