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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wax — to grow
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. lie — to recline
  5. row — a line
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wound — an injury
  8. present — there
  9. wound — an injury
  10. present — the time now
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. land — ground
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. present — a gift
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. hand — help
  23. land — a country
  24. fan — a supporter

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