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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.

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: coach · spring · staff · hand · rush · bulb · wax · land

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. land — to come down
  5. hand — in cards
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. staff — employees
  8. hand — help
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wax — to grow
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spring — of water
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. land — a country
  22. bulb — for light
  23. rush — a thrill
  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