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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. lean — thin
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ball — a dance
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. fall — to drop
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fall — the season
  13. face — to confront
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — to bear
  17. face — to point toward
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. lean — to bend
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. fall — to drop

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