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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. land — to come down
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wake — a trail
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pop — to visit
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — wild animals
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pop — music
  18. game — a match
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pop — soda
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mine — an explosive

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