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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pop — music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pop — soda
  9. chair — a leader
  10. present — the time now
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. game — a match
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wax — to grow
  16. pop — to visit
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. drill — a practice
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — army training
  22. mine — for digging
  23. game — wild animals
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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