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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a music group
  3. face — part of the head
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. face — to confront
  7. firm — steady
  8. cold — not warm
  9. firm — a company
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. last — to go on
  12. land — to come down
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — an illness
  16. last — final
  17. face — to point toward
  18. firm — decided
  19. land — a country
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. land — ground
  23. last — finally
  24. band — a rubber band

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