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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pitch — completely
  4. land — to come down
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cue — a hint
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. hand — in cards
  9. spell — letters
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — ground
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spell — magic
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. hand — help
  18. land — a country
  19. cue — a signal
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cap — a hat
  23. fall — the season
  24. pitch — a sports field

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