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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: cold · pop · wind · wax · bay · spring · shower · bear

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. shower — rain
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pop — music
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — the season
  20. pop — soda
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pop — to visit
  24. spring — of water

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