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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 120 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. hand — help
  3. land — a country
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. rash — a series
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. snap — to click
  9. land — to come down
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rash — hasty
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. scale — in music
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. land — ground
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. scale — size or range

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