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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spell — letters
  3. track — a path
  4. net — in sport
  5. spell — magic
  6. band — a ring
  7. track — a song
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. net — after costs
  10. bank — for money
  11. net — for catching
  12. wax — to grow
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. charge — electricity
  16. charge — in control
  17. charge — a price
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bat — the animal
  20. band — a music group
  21. bank — of a river
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bank — for money

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