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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
468
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: ground · last · row · straw · band · leaves · kid · wax

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. band — a music group
  7. wax — to grow
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. ground — crushed
  10. band — a ring
  11. last — finally
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. kid — to tease
  15. last — to go on
  16. row — to paddle
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. ground — the earth
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. ground — a position
  23. last — final
  24. kid — child

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