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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 124 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rest — what's left
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — to grow
  8. shower — to wash
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cap — of ice
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cap — a hat
  13. shower — rain
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cap — a lid
  17. field — a subject
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — for sport
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cell — in biology
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — farmland
  24. hide — to keep secret

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