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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. perch — the fish
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — help
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bass — low music
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. last — to go on
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rash — a series
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. last — final
  20. hand — in cards
  21. last — finally
  22. bass — the fish
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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