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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: cold · staff · wake · squash · date · field · wax · track

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — to crush
  6. field — for sport
  7. staff — a stick
  8. field — farmland
  9. track — to keep track
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. squash — the sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. wake — a trail
  14. track — a path
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — not warm
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. track — a song
  20. date — the fruit
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — to grow
  24. staff — employees

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