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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. rash — a series
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. wound — an injury
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. spell — letters
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. rock — music
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rock — a stone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — a short time
  17. snap — to click
  18. wax — to grow
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — not warm
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. spell — magic

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