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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. spring — the season
  3. file — a document
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — ground
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. date — the fruit
  9. file — a tool
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. land — to come down
  13. spring — of water
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. land — a country
  20. wax — to grow
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. chip — to eat
  23. chip — for betting
  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