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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. hand — help
  4. spring — of water
  5. pop — music
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. charge — a price
  8. charge — in control
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bore — to drill
  11. march — the month
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pop — soda
  17. charge — electricity
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — music
  22. spring — the season
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pop — to visit

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