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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. mark — a grade
  8. rest — a break
  9. snap — to click
  10. mark — a trace
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — the season
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. fall — to drop
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kid — child

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