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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rash — hasty
  3. face — to confront
  4. key — for a lock
  5. spring — a coil
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. key — in music
  8. rash — a series
  9. rest — a break
  10. wax — to grow
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. spring — the season
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. key — the most important part
  19. spring — of water
  20. land — a country
  21. face — part of the head
  22. land — ground
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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