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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. land — to come down
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a song
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. land — a country
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. net — after costs
  12. track — a path
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — ground
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. net — in sport
  20. wax — to grow
  21. spring — a coil
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. net — for catching
  24. spring — of water

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