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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. court — of law
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. field — a subject
  9. field — farmland
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. field — for sport
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — a series
  15. band — a ring
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. court — of a king
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a music group
  21. court — for sport
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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