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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. hand — help
  3. saw — the tool
  4. season — in sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bound — certain
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. spring — the season
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. rock — music
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bound — obliged
  18. rock — a stone
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bound — tied together
  21. season — of the year
  22. date — the fruit
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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