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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. charge — electricity
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — to crush
  11. band — a music group
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. charge — a price
  16. charge — in control
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. squash — the sport
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wax — to grow

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