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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. snap — to click
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. charge — a price
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. scale — size or range
  16. charge — in control
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spring — the season
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cell — a phone
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. charge — electricity

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