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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. chest — a box
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mug — to rob
  14. chest — of your body
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. spell — a short time
  17. mug — a face
  18. spell — letters
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spell — magic
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bat — in an idiom

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