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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 · bore · saw · ball · net · land · spring · wax

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. saw — the tool
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. bore — to drill
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. land — ground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. land — a country
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — in sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. land — to come down
  17. net — for catching
  18. ball — a great time
  19. wax — to grow
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — not warm
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bore — to tire
  24. ball — a dance

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