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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. rock — a stone
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rock — music
  5. hand — in cards
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. pitch — completely
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bat — the animal
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. hand — help
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bat — for baseball

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