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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 120 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
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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: spell · fall · charge · spring · wax · tube · ball · cold

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ball — a great time
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cold — not warm
  8. charge — electricity
  9. tube — a container
  10. spring — the season
  11. wax — to grow
  12. charge — in control
  13. charge — a price
  14. spring — a coil
  15. fall — the season
  16. spell — letters
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. tube — the underground
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spring — of water
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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