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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. last — to go on
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. last — final
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. deal — to handle
  16. bore — to tire
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bore — to drill
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. clip — a video
  21. last — finally
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. pitch — completely
  24. deal — a big deal

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