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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. sharp — clever
  3. roll — a cake
  4. roll — a list
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bulb — for light
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wax — to grow
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. cold — an illness
  15. branch — a division
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bulb — for light
  24. roll — on a roll

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