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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. root — the cause
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. root — of a word
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. dip — to sink
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. squash — the sport
  11. rock — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. game — a match
  14. cold — not warm
  15. squash — to crush
  16. rock — a stone
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. spell — magic
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. game — wild animals

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