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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. staff — employees
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — a phone
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. saw — the tool
  17. land — a country
  18. staff — a stick
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. drill — army training
  22. staff — employees
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. drill — a practice

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