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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. last — final
  7. fall — to drop
  8. roll — a cake
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. last — to go on
  13. rock — a stone
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rock — music
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. last — finally
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. roll — a list
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. roll — on a roll

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