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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — not warm
  3. spring — of water
  4. date — the fruit
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. spring — a coil
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wax — to grow
  16. season — in sport
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. season — of the year
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wave — of the sea

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