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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. spring — the season
  4. pass — a permit
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. drill — the tool
  7. club — for dancing
  8. ground — a position
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pound — a weight
  11. ground — crushed
  12. shower — rain
  13. club — a group
  14. spring — a coil
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — army training
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. spring — of water
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. club — for golf

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