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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 water is too ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. spell — a short time
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spell — magic
  14. pass — a permit
  15. band — a music group
  16. spell — letters
  17. sharp — clever
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wax — to grow
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. racket — for tennis

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