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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. ground — a position
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. spell — letters
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. mine — for digging
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. chest — of your body
  13. suit — to fit
  14. suit — clothes
  15. spell — magic
  16. suit — in cards
  17. spell — a short time
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wax — to grow
  21. chest — a box
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. ground — the earth
  24. pitcher — a jug

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