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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. pop — soda
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. present — there
  11. deal — to handle
  12. pop — music
  13. hand — help
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. tube — the underground
  18. present — the time now
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wax — to grow
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. tube — a container
  23. spring — of water
  24. present — a gift

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