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

Word bank: land · snap · temple · lash · object · cold · wax · present

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. land — to come down
  3. snap — to click
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. land — a country
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. object — a thing
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. object — an aim
  11. land — ground
  12. present — the time now
  13. object — to protest
  14. present — there
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. present — a gift
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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