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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. spring — of water
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mark — a grade
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cold — not warm
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. object — to protest
  15. wax — to grow
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. object — a thing
  18. cold — an illness
  19. object — an aim
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mark — a trace
  22. spring — the season
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bat — for baseball

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