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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. wax — to grow
  8. deal — to handle
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mug — a cup
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. chest — a box
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mug — a face
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mug — to rob
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. chest — of your body

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