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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. spring — a coil
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. current — happening now
  5. chest — of your body
  6. current — electric
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. chest — of your body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spring — the season
  15. face — to point toward
  16. stock — shares
  17. face — part of the head
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. current — of water
  20. stock — goods
  21. chest — a box
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. face — to confront
  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