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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. row — a line
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. face — to confront
  9. craft — boats
  10. current — of water
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wax — to grow
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. current — happening now
  17. ball — a great time
  18. wound — an injury
  19. face — to point toward
  20. current — electric
  21. craft — a skill
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a round shape

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