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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pound — a weight
  5. game — a match
  6. wax — to grow
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. spring — the season
  9. cue — a signal
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mine — for digging
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cue — a hint
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hide — to keep secret

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