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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bore — to tire
  6. perch — the fish
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. land — ground
  10. fall — to drop
  11. charge — electricity
  12. swing — in golf
  13. fall — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — a country
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bore — to drill
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. swing — to play on
  21. charge — in control
  22. land — to come down
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. swing — 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