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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. object — an aim
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cap — a lid
  7. key — for a lock
  8. object — a thing
  9. key — in music
  10. cap — of ice
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. spell — letters
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. shower — to wash
  16. spell — a short time
  17. shower — rain
  18. object — to protest
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wax — to grow
  21. spell — magic
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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