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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 120 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. land — ground
  8. last — to go on
  9. press — to push
  10. present — there
  11. present — a gift
  12. land — to come down
  13. row — to paddle
  14. press — a publisher
  15. land — a country
  16. last — final
  17. chest — a box
  18. press — newspapers
  19. present — the time now
  20. row — a line
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chest — of your body
  24. last — finally

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