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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: wax · shower · ball · game · date · ground · spring · foot

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. foot — a measure
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wax — to grow
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — a match
  14. spring — the season
  15. shower — rain
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. ground — a position
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. date — the fruit
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wax — for sculpting

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