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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kid — to tease
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. wound — an injury
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. season — of the year
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wound — an injury
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. lean — to bend
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. lean — thin
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to click
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. season — in sport

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