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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · wax · tube · swing · lash · tear · press · degree

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. tube — the underground
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. press — a publisher
  8. tear — to rip
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. spring — of water
  14. swing — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — from crying
  17. swing — to play on
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. press — newspapers
  20. tube — a container
  21. press — to push
  22. swing — in golf
  23. degree — an amount
  24. lash — an eyelash

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