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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. field — farmland
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spring — of water
  8. field — for sport
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spring — the season
  11. face — to confront
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. field — a subject
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. firm — steady
  17. firm — decided
  18. firm — a company
  19. spring — a coil
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — a stick
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to point toward

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