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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — child
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cell — a phone
  7. kid — to tease
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spring — the season
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. track — a path
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. spring — of water
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. track — to keep track

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