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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spring — the season
  3. branch — a division
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — a coil
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cold — not warm
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spring — of water
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lean — to bend
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. lean — thin

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