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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. ball — a dance
  4. row — a line
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. bound — tied together
  8. perch — the fish
  9. wax — to grow
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spell — letters
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stand — to bear
  23. spell — magic
  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