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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. club — for golf
  3. track — a path
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. root — the cause
  7. last — final
  8. plane — a tool
  9. club — a group
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. club — for dancing
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. root — of a word
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. clip — to cut
  19. track — a song
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. track — to keep track
  23. clip — for paper
  24. root — of a plant

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