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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. sharp — clever
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cold — an illness
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — not warm
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. face — to confront
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. spring — of water
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. rush — hurry
  24. sharp — with an edge

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