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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bulb — for light
  3. last — final
  4. dip — to sink
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wax — to grow
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spring — the season
  10. drill — army training
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. last — to go on
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. drill — a practice
  16. spring — a coil
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. spring — of water
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cold — not warm

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