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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 120 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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. present — there
  4. season — of the year
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. land — ground
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — thin
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. present — the time now
  17. wax — to grow
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. season — in sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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