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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 120 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: staff · coach · rush · cold · plane · wax · ground · spring

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. plane — a tool
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ground — a position
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. rush — hurry
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. staff — employees
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wax — to grow
  21. staff — a stick
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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