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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. key — for a lock
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chip — to eat
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. snap — to click
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. key — the most important part
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. rash — a series
  16. bat — the animal
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. chip — for betting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. key — in music
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. branch — a division

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