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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a match
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. net — in sport
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. band — a music group
  12. net — after costs
  13. game — wild animals
  14. band — a ring
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — for catching
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. kid — child
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — an illness

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