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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cold — an illness
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bank — of a river
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — ground
  17. bank — for money
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. prune — to trim
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bank — for money
  24. wax — for sculpting

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