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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — ground
  9. cap — a hat
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wax — to grow
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. wax — for sculpting

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