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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. ball — a dance
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. net — after costs
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — in sport
  9. wax — to grow
  10. board — to get on
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — high quality
  14. board — a committee
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. net — for catching
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. ball — a round shape

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