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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. shower — rain
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. game — a match
  15. row — a line
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. row — to paddle
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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