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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — to grow
  3. last — final
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. last — finally
  6. track — a song
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. last — to go on
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. track — to keep track
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. mine — for digging
  17. hand — in cards
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. track — a path
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. stand — to bear

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