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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. last — final
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. wax — to grow
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rule — government
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. rule — a law
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. last — to go on
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. plane — a tool
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. last — finally

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