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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 116 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. shower — rain
  8. squash — to crush
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. charge — in control
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wax — to grow
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — to bear
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. charge — a price
  20. kid — child
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — wild animals
  24. charge — electricity

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