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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. land — to come down
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wake — a trail
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wax — to grow
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. land — a country
  13. chest — of your body
  14. lean — to bend
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. ball — a dance
  20. lean — thin
  21. chest — a box
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wind — moving air

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