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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wax — to grow
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — an illness
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. roll — a list
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a music group
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wake — a trail
  20. spring — the season
  21. saw — the tool
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. roll — a cake

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