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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pop — soda
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — a position
  8. row — to paddle
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. row — a line
  12. ground — the earth
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pop — music

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