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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. track — a song
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. last — final
  6. rush — hurry
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chest — of your body
  14. track — to keep track
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. track — a path
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — to grow
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rest — a break
  23. chest — a box
  24. straw — dry grass

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