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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. suit — to fit
  3. foot — a measure
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spring — of water
  6. shower — to wash
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. spring — the season
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. suit — in cards
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. wax — to grow
  16. suit — clothes
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — a coil
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. wax — in the ear

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