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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. band — a music group
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wax — to grow
  5. spring — the season
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — a coil
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. band — a ring
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stem — to come from
  16. club — a group
  17. saw — the tool
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. club — for golf
  24. spring — of water

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