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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. spell — magic
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. spell — letters
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. spell — a short time
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — child
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wax — to grow
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. chip — for betting
  24. wake — before a funeral

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