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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spring — of water
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. rule — government
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. spring — the season
  15. rule — a law
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. pit — in a race
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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