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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 116 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mate — a partner
  3. file — a tool
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. plane — a tool
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bass — the fish
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. file — a document
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. bass — low music
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. spring — of water

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