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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — a coil
  6. kid — to tease
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. spring — of water
  11. land — to come down
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rush — hurry
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. spring — the season
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. lean — thin
  23. lean — to bend
  24. kid — child

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