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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — a country
  3. last — final
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. net — for catching
  8. wax — to grow
  9. last — to go on
  10. net — after costs
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. net — in sport
  13. craft — a skill
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. land — ground
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fine — all right
  19. fine — high quality
  20. craft — boats
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. land — to come down
  24. last — finally

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