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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: ground · spring · fine · content · wax · cold · march · wind

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. march — the month
  4. ground — a position
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fine — high quality
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — happy
  12. fine — all right
  13. spring — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. march — music
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wax — to grow
  20. march — the month
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — the amount
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. ground — crushed

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