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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 120 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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. lean — to bend
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. last — final
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. foot — a measure
  9. last — to go on
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bear — the animal
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. lean — thin
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. last — finally
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. wax — to grow
  24. net — for catching

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