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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. march — the month
  3. hand — help
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wax — to grow
  7. pit — in a race
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. ball — a great time
  13. chest — a box
  14. march — music
  15. pit — a hole
  16. shower — rain
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. mark — a grade
  21. march — the month
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mark — a trace

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