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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fork — in a road
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cold — not warm
  11. club — for golf
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — completely
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lie — to recline
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mark — a trace

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