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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. perch — the fish
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. sharp — clever
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. season — in sport
  11. fall — the season
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. season — of the year
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — to grow

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