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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. hand — help
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. deal — to handle
  14. wake — a trail
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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