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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. ground — a position
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. spring — of water
  7. ground — the earth
  8. club — for dancing
  9. ground — crushed
  10. club — a group
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wax — to grow
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — in sport
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. kick — in football
  23. season — of the year
  24. club — for golf

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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