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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. charge — electricity
  7. hand — help
  8. charge — in control
  9. land — a country
  10. spring — of water
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. lean — thin
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. land — ground
  16. bat — the animal
  17. spring — the season
  18. charge — a price
  19. lean — to bend
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. land — to come down
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. bat — in an idiom

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