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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. net — for catching
  5. squash — to crush
  6. wax — to grow
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. squash — the sport
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. march — music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. drill — the tool
  17. snap — to click
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. drill — army training
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. calf — a young animal

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