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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wind — moving air
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. chest — a box
  9. wax — to grow
  10. pop — to visit
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wind — moving air
  13. land — to come down
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. chest — of your body
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wax — in the ear

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