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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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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: last · spell · tear · pop · bulb · wax · ground · fall

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — music
  6. spell — magic
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tear — to rip
  10. spell — letters
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. spell — a short time
  13. bulb — for light
  14. last — finally
  15. ground — a position
  16. last — to go on
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bulb — for light
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. fall — the season
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wax — to grow

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