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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. bank — for money
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. row — a line
  6. net — for catching
  7. sharp — clever
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bank — for money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wax — to grow
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bank — of a river
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. cold — the Cold War

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