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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. spring — of water
  3. drill — army training
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. spring — a coil
  7. drill — a practice
  8. tube — a container
  9. drill — the tool
  10. tube — the underground
  11. spring — the season
  12. hand — help
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wind — moving air

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