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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · game · bear · saw · wax · pitcher · scale · cold

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. scale — in music
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. game — wild animals
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bear — the animal
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. game — a match

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