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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. press — to push
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. spring — of water
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wax — to grow
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. spring — the season
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mark — a grade
  16. land — to come down
  17. wound — an injury
  18. spring — a coil
  19. press — a publisher
  20. land — a country
  21. press — newspapers
  22. hand — help
  23. land — ground
  24. mark — a trace

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