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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wind — moving air
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. net — in sport
  8. rash — a series
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. object — to protest
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a leader
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. net — after costs
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. object — a thing
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. net — for catching
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rash — hasty
  24. object — an aim

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