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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. chest — of your body
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wax — to grow
  5. net — in sport
  6. ball — a dance
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. deal — to handle
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. net — after costs
  21. chest — a box
  22. wake — a trail
  23. net — for catching
  24. ball — a round shape

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