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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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 — to grow
  2. club — for golf
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. key — in music
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. key — for a lock
  12. club — a group
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rush — hurry
  18. key — the most important part
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kick — in football
  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