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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. ball — a dance
  3. rash — hasty
  4. chair — a leader
  5. current — of water
  6. wax — to grow
  7. season — in sport
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. season — of the year
  10. spell — letters
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. spell — magic
  14. current — electric
  15. spell — a short time
  16. march — music
  17. march — the month
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. current — happening now
  20. rash — a series
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. march — the month

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