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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mark — a grade
  4. pop — to visit
  5. net — for catching
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. track — a song
  8. track — a path
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wax — to grow
  12. pop — music
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — soda
  19. track — to keep track
  20. mark — a trace
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — magic

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