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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
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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: mine · cold · hide · bear · tear · date · wax · spring

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. spring — a coil
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bear — the animal
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. tear — from crying
  17. date — the fruit
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. spring — the season
  20. wax — to grow
  21. tear — to rip
  22. spring — of water
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cold — an illness

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