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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. bat — the animal
  3. kid — to tease
  4. charge — in control
  5. wound — an injury
  6. charge — a price
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wound — an injury
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. field — a subject
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. charge — electricity
  18. lean — thin
  19. game — wild animals
  20. lean — to bend
  21. field — for sport
  22. game — a match
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. field — farmland

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