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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. fine — all right
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. firm — decided
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. fine — high quality
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — a company
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. firm — steady
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wax — to grow
  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