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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 always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. land — to come down
  3. spell — letters
  4. shower — rain
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pass — a permit
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. shower — to wash
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — an amount
  20. land — ground
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — in the ear

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