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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: tear · plane · cold · straw · temple · current · tube · wax

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — happening now
  3. cold — not warm
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. current — electric
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tube — the underground
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. tube — a container
  14. plane — a tool
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. current — of water
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  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