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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cap — a hat
  3. spring — of water
  4. firm — decided
  5. fall — to drop
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. firm — a company
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. firm — steady
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bass — low music
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fall — the season
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — final
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cap — a lid

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