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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.

Make a worksheet

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: racket · bark · field · spring · mouse · cold · nail · wax

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — of water
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. field — farmland
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — not warm
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bark — to shout

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