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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — music
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. net — after costs
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pop — soda
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. net — for catching
  21. chest — a box
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. net — in sport

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