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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. wax — to grow
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — a match
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. press — newspapers
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. press — a publisher
  15. press — to push
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. drill — a practice
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mine — for digging
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. chair — a leader
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. mine — belonging to me

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