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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. degree — an amount
  3. band — a ring
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — from a university
  7. spring — of water
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — in biology
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wax — to grow
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. club — a group
  17. club — for dancing
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. club — for golf
  20. spring — the season
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. band — a music group
  24. cell — a phone

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