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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. season — of the year
  7. wax — to grow
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bulb — for light
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. net — after costs
  14. net — for catching
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. sharp — clever
  18. branch — a division
  19. season — in sport
  20. net — in sport
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cell — a phone
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. branch — of a tree

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