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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fine — all right
  3. last — to go on
  4. present — a gift
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. squash — to crush
  8. present — there
  9. present — the time now
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. kid — to tease
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. fine — high quality
  17. wind — moving air
  18. last — finally
  19. kid — child
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wind — moving air
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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