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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. net — after costs
  3. ground — a position
  4. wax — to grow
  5. spring — of water
  6. ground — the earth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bass — the fish
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. lie — to recline
  15. bass — low music
  16. ground — crushed
  17. spring — the season
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bass — the instrument

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