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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. rush — hurry
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. staff — employees
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. game — wild animals
  11. spell — letters
  12. row — a line
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wax — to grow
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. staff — a stick
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. spell — a short time
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. game — a match
  21. staff — employees
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. spell — magic
  24. sharp — clever

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