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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. snap — to click
  8. fine — all right
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. shower — to wash
  14. spring — a coil
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wax — to grow
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. spring — the season
  22. fine — high quality
  23. saw — the tool
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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