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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wax — to grow
  5. court — for sport
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. game — a match
  13. court — of a king
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. court — of law
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — wild animals
  19. rash — hasty
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. mate — a friend
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. rash — a series
  24. bear — to put up with

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