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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. can — a tin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. game — wild animals
  11. row — a line
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spring — a coil
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. wax — to grow
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. plane — a tool
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. row — to paddle

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