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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. staff — employees
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. spring — the season
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. kid — child
  15. staff — employees
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — a coil
  19. staff — a stick
  20. spring — of water
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bowl — a football final
  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