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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — of water
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bound — obliged
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. stand — to bear
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bound — tied together
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. spring — the season
  24. wax — to grow

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