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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  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. net — in sport
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. net — after costs
  8. chair — a leader
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. last — final
  13. shower — rain
  14. net — for catching
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. pound — a weight
  18. last — finally
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wax — to grow
  21. last — to go on
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. scale — in music
  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