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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
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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: spell · wax · spring · wound · mate · cold · trunk · bore

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — a short time
  7. mate — a partner
  8. spell — magic
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — of water
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spell — letters
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bore — to drill
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. trunk — of a tree

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