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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. sharp — clever
  6. wax — to grow
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wound — an injury
  10. root — of a plant
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. root — the cause
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. root — of a word
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — a coil
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. fall — the season
  22. wound — an injury
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. date — the fruit

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