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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · wax · object · fine · current · cold · wake · mine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. object — an aim
  4. object — to protest
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fine — all right
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. object — a thing
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. wound — an injury
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. fine — high quality
  21. current — electric
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wake — a trail
  24. cold — the Cold War

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