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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: bulb · cold · spring · cabinet · leaves · row · pass · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. spring — the season
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bulb — for light
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — to grow
  16. spring — of water
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. pass — a permit

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