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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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Word bank
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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. ball — a dance
  3. game — wild animals
  4. land — a country
  5. swing — to play on
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wax — to grow
  8. ball — a great time
  9. drill — a practice
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. swing — in golf
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. swing — music
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. land — to come down
  19. rash — hasty
  20. land — ground
  21. game — a match
  22. drill — army training
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — in the ear

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