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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — a match
  6. wax — to grow
  7. snap — to click
  8. tear — to rip
  9. object — to protest
  10. object — a thing
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. tear — from crying
  14. scale — size or range
  15. game — wild animals
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. scale — in music
  20. object — an aim
  21. ground — a position
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. ground — the earth

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