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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. band — a ring
  3. net — for catching
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. band — a music group
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. fall — the season
  10. net — in sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a lid
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spring — of water
  17. cap — a hat
  18. wax — to grow
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. squash — to crush
  22. net — after costs
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. spring — the season

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