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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 don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. last — final
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. snap — to click
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wake — a trail
  19. spell — letters
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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