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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 116 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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. tube — the underground
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wax — to grow
  13. chip — to eat
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wound — an injury
  18. tube — a container
  19. perch — the fish
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. chip — for betting
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rest — a break

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