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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. spring — of water
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stand — to bear
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. cell — a phone
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cell — in biology
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a ring
  14. cap — a hat
  15. hand — in cards
  16. band — a music group
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cap — a lid
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. hand — help
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — to grow

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