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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. current — of water
  3. dip — to sink
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spring — a coil
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cold — not warm
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. current — happening now
  11. wax — to grow
  12. spring — of water
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wound — an injury
  17. face — to confront
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. face — part of the head
  20. current — electric
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. cold — an illness

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