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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 120 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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stock — shares
  4. wax — to grow
  5. craft — boats
  6. ground — the earth
  7. chair — a leader
  8. stock — goods
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — an illness
  11. row — to paddle
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. ground — crushed
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. row — a line
  18. craft — a skill
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. stock — a soup base

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