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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. last — finally
  3. key — for a lock
  4. last — to go on
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. key — the most important part
  9. season — of the year
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wound — an injury
  14. last — final
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. fork — in a road
  22. key — in music
  23. wind — moving air
  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