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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 112 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rest — a break
  5. row — a line
  6. spring — of water
  7. row — to paddle
  8. band — a music group
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cell — in biology
  11. spring — a coil
  12. rest — what's left
  13. band — a ring
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. rest — what's left

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