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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 116 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bore — to drill
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. game — a match
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. saw — the tool
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bear — the animal
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. bore — to tire
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bore — gave birth

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