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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. track — a song
  2. last — finally
  3. shower — to wash
  4. track — a path
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. face — to point toward
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. fine — all right
  12. scale — in music
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. scale — size or range
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to confront
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. track — to keep track
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. fine — high quality
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — to grow
  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