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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. wax — to grow
  4. staff — a stick
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. rash — hasty
  8. staff — employees
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rash — a series
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. ground — a position
  13. hand — help
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. squash — to crush
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. chair — a leader
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. staff — employees
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. ground — the earth

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