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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wax — to grow
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. mate — a friend
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rock — a stone
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. staff — a stick
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. staff — employees
  20. mate — to breed
  21. game — a match
  22. mate — a partner
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — the animal

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