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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. spell — magic
  5. kid — child
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. spell — letters
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. last — final
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wax — to grow
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stock — goods
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. spell — a short time
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. bass — the fish
  23. stock — shares
  24. bass — low music

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