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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 120 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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — to tease
  4. last — final
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. kid — child
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — a publisher
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. last — finally
  18. bear — the animal
  19. last — to go on
  20. bound — tied together
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — to grow
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. press — to push

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