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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. scale — in music
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. shower — rain
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. ground — crushed
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. wax — to grow
  18. ground — a position
  19. shower — to wash
  20. ground — the earth
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. mine — belonging to me

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