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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. scale — size or range
  3. spell — magic
  4. lean — thin
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. mine — for digging
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. spell — a short time
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. scale — in music
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. spell — letters
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. wax — to grow
  22. lean — to bend
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — a tool

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