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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: game · rule · spring · wax · net · bat · temple · wound

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. net — after costs
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — of water
  7. rule — a law
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. rule — government
  14. net — for catching
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. net — in sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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