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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: spring · fan · row · mouse · straw · wax · rock · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spring — the season
  4. row — a line
  5. game — a match
  6. rock — a stone
  7. wax — to grow
  8. spring — a coil
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. spring — of water
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. row — to paddle
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. rock — music

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