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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. wax — to grow
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. last — final
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mark — a trace
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — for digging
  14. swing — in golf
  15. mark — a grade
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. swing — music
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. wave — of the sea

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