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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. field — farmland
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. spring — a coil
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. drill — army training
  13. tear — from crying
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. field — a subject
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wax — to grow
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. field — for sport
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. tear — to rip
  24. spring — the season

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