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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. can — to be able to
  3. cold — not warm
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. lean — thin
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. spring — a coil
  8. perch — the fish
  9. clip — a video
  10. lean — to bend
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. can — a tin
  13. spring — the season
  14. clip — for paper
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. clip — to cut
  19. can — a tin
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cold — an illness
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. cold — the Cold War

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