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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · shower · vault · wake · spell · net · wave · wax

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spell — letters
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wax — to grow
  8. shower — rain
  9. spell — magic
  10. net — for catching
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. spell — a short time
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. net — after costs
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wake — a trail
  22. vault — a safe
  23. net — in sport
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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