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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. pop — to visit
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. root — the cause
  10. sharp — clever
  11. pop — soda
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — to grow
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. last — finally
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. root — of a word
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. root — of a plant
  23. pop — music
  24. wax — in the ear

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