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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. spring — the season
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. track — a song
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. spring — a coil
  13. track — a path
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. track — to keep track
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — a leader
  22. band — a ring
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wax — in the ear

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