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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spring — the season
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. last — final
  6. saw — the tool
  7. spring — of water
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. saw — the tool
  10. last — finally
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wax — to grow
  19. row — a line
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. mine — an explosive

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