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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. spring — a coil
  5. last — finally
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — to grow
  9. last — to go on
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. last — final
  15. rush — hurry
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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