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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. temple — a place of worship
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wax — to grow
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. lean — to bend
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. mine — for digging
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. lean — thin
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. staff — employees
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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