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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a ring
  10. tear — from crying
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. tear — to rip
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. hand — help
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. date — the fruit
  20. band — a music group
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. deal — to handle
  24. pitcher — a jug

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