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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. kid — to tease
  3. drill — the tool
  4. pop — soda
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — child
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. charge — in control
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. charge — electricity
  12. scale — in music
  13. charge — a price
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wax — to grow
  20. drill — army training
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pop — music

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