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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 chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lie — to recline
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. staff — a stick
  8. game — a match
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. staff — employees
  12. march — the month
  13. march — music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. staff — employees
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bound — obliged
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — in a road
  24. kid — to tease

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