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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. pop — music
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. chip — to eat
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. chest — a box
  9. chip — for betting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — the tool
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bore — to drill
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bore — to tire
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — army training
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. chest — of your body
  24. drill — a practice

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