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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 116 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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. charge — in control
  8. spring — of water
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stock — shares
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cold — an illness
  17. charge — a price
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. spring — a coil
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. sharp — clever
  23. stock — goods
  24. spring — the season

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