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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ground — the earth
  4. stock — goods
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. chest — of your body
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. roll — a cake
  12. sharp — clever
  13. chest — a box
  14. object — a thing
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. object — to protest
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. roll — a list
  20. object — an aim
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — shares
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — to grow

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