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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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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: mate · straw · perch · last · spring · wax · object · ground

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. last — finally
  3. wax — to grow
  4. spring — a coil
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. object — a thing
  7. mate — a partner
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. perch — the fish
  12. last — to go on
  13. spring — the season
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. object — an aim
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spring — of water
  20. last — final
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ground — the earth
  24. mate — to breed

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