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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. hand — help
  3. tube — the underground
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. race — a contest
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. dip — to sink
  15. net — in sport
  16. race — humankind
  17. perch — the fish
  18. race — the arms race
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wax — to grow
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tube — a container
  24. snap — to click

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