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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. rock — a stone
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ground — a position
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — the most important part
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. shower — to wash
  12. key — in music
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wax — to grow
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. hand — help
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. rock — music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. shower — rain

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