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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. net — in sport
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. net — for catching
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. object — to protest
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. object — an aim
  12. net — after costs
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bear — the animal
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — to sink
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wax — to grow
  22. object — a thing
  23. spring — a coil
  24. hide — to keep secret

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