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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. lean — thin
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. pop — music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — for sport
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — soda
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bore — to drill
  19. field — a subject
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bore — to tire
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — to visit

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