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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spring — the season
  3. tube — the underground
  4. staff — employees
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spring — a coil
  10. march — music
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. spring — of water
  15. wax — to grow
  16. staff — a stick
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. tube — a container
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. staff — employees
  22. shower — rain
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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