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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. spring — of water
  3. plane — a tool
  4. press — to push
  5. press — a publisher
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. spring — a coil
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ball — a great time
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. ball — a dance
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. press — newspapers
  23. march — the month
  24. spring — the season

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