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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 120 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. row — a line
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. wax — to grow
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mate — a partner
  18. row — to paddle
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. mate — a friend
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — to shout

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