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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rest — a break
  4. spring — of water
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. land — to come down
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bulb — for light
  11. land — a country
  12. bulb — for light
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — to grow
  15. spring — the season
  16. rest — what's left
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — ground
  24. wax — for sculpting

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