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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. foot — a measure
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. press — a publisher
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. hand — in cards
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wax — to grow
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. ground — crushed
  15. date — the fruit
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. press — newspapers
  21. lean — thin
  22. ground — a position
  23. press — to push
  24. lean — to bend

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