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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. file — a tool
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — the season
  8. rest — a break
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a document
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wax — to grow
  16. rest — what's left
  17. file — a line of people
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wind — moving air
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. chair — to sit on

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