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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: bark · spring · wax · bass · cold · season · current · plane

  1. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. spring — of water
  4. cold — not warm
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. spring — a coil
  7. current — happening now
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bass — low music
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. season — of the year
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spring — the season
  16. bass — the fish
  17. season — in sport
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. current — electric
  21. current — of water
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. plane — a tool

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