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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. mine — for digging
  7. degree — from a university
  8. sharp — clever
  9. pitch — completely
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. degree — temperature
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — an amount
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. wax — to grow
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. branch — a division
  24. wax — for sculpting

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