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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. 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. rest — what's left
  2. spring — the season
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rush — hurry
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. rest — a break
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. spring — of water
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. row — a line
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wax — to grow
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. 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