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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: date · staff · saw · face · spring · wax · content · fan

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — to grow
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. content — happy
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — part of the head
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spring — a coil
  13. face — to point toward
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. spring — of water
  16. staff — a stick
  17. saw — the tool
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — the amount
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. staff — employees
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. spring — the season

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