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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. plane — a tool
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mine — for digging
  6. fall — to drop
  7. net — in sport
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — the season
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. net — for catching
  18. club — for dancing
  19. club — a group
  20. net — after costs
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — for golf
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. plane — in geometry

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