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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. fine — high quality
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to click
  10. squash — to crush
  11. mine — for digging
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — rain
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. fine — all right
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. wax — to grow
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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