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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · net · cold · cell · wax · plane

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. plane — a tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — for catching
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — of water
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. cell — a phone

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