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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wound — an injury
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. ground — a position
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. wax — to grow
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spring — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. snap — to click
  20. spring — of water
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ground — the earth

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