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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. lean — to bend
  4. last — final
  5. lean — thin
  6. rule — government
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. last — to go on
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. rule — a law
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wound — an injury

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