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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — soda
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. pop — music
  6. can — a tin
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chest — of your body
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. shower — to wash
  14. can — a tin
  15. cap — a hat
  16. chest — a box
  17. pop — to visit
  18. shower — rain
  19. cap — of ice
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. season — of the year
  23. band — a ring
  24. cap — a lid

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