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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — to come down
  3. wind — moving air
  4. game — wild animals
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. band — a music group
  12. wax — to grow
  13. lean — thin
  14. land — a country
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — moving air
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. lean — to bend
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. land — ground
  23. wake — a trail
  24. game — a kind of play

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