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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. scale — in music
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. scale — size or range
  8. plane — a tool
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. fine — all right
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fine — high quality
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. date — the fruit

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