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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — the season
  4. file — a tool
  5. wax — to grow
  6. game — a match
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. wind — moving air
  20. game — wild animals
  21. file — a document
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wax — in the ear

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