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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. present — the time now
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. charge — electricity
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. charge — a price
  15. charge — in control
  16. present — a gift
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. present — there
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bat — for baseball

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