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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. mate — a friend
  3. ground — crushed
  4. spring — of water
  5. tube — a container
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. mate — a partner
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. ground — a position
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. ground — the earth
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — thin
  19. spring — the season
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. mate — to breed
  22. wax — to grow
  23. field — for sport
  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