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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wax — to grow
  7. game — a match
  8. net — after costs
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bear — the animal
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wake — a trail
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. cold — the Cold War

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