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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. kid — to tease
  3. key — the most important part
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. tube — the underground
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wax — to grow
  11. tube — a container
  12. snap — to click
  13. race — humankind
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. kid — child
  16. roll — a cake
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. race — a contest
  20. key — in music
  21. key — for a lock
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. spring — of water
  24. roll — a list

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