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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pop — music
  5. kick — in football
  6. rush — hurry
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. game — a match
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. pop — to visit
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cold — not warm
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. pop — soda
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a path
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — for sculpting

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