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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. key — for a lock
  7. wax — to grow
  8. squash — to crush
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. squash — the sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. rash — hasty
  18. spring — the season
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. key — in music
  22. spring — of water
  23. rash — a series
  24. key — the most important part

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