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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. deal — to handle
  5. ball — a great time
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. wax — to grow
  8. kick — in football
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tube — a container
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tube — the underground
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. kick — with a leg

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