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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. club — for golf
  5. ball — a great time
  6. face — to confront
  7. current — of water
  8. face — part of the head
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. club — for dancing
  11. kid — child
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. capital — money
  14. current — electric
  15. ball — a dance
  16. face — to point toward
  17. kid — to tease
  18. club — a group
  19. wax — to grow
  20. spring — the season
  21. current — happening now
  22. capital — a city
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. capital — a big letter

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