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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. fall — the season
  4. face — part of the head
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. fall — to drop
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spring — a coil
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. fall — to drop
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — clever
  23. clip — for paper
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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