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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 116 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: bound · rock · cold · wax · staff · spring · field · lean

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cold — not warm
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bound — obliged
  9. field — for sport
  10. lean — thin
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. rock — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. field — farmland
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bound — tied together
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. wax — to grow
  21. bound — certain
  22. rock — a stone
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. field — a subject

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