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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rule — a law
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. mark — a grade
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. present — the time now
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mark — a trace
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cold — not warm
  18. present — there
  19. present — a gift
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. snap — to click
  23. game — a match
  24. rule — government

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