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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. last — final
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wax — to grow
  7. mate — a partner
  8. lean — to bend
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. last — finally
  13. mate — a friend
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. spring — of water
  19. mate — to breed
  20. fork — in a road
  21. spring — the season
  22. last — to go on
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. lean — thin

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