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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. scale — size or range
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. spring — the season
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. sharp — clever
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. spring — a coil
  13. toast — bread
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — to come from
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. scale — in music
  19. wax — to grow
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. hand — help
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. spring — of water

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