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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. season — in sport
  5. plane — a tool
  6. race — a contest
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. land — to come down
  13. race — humankind
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. race — the arms race
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — for digging
  21. season — of the year
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. land — ground

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