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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 120 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: spring · object · cold · wind · nail · wax · bowl · face

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wax — to grow
  4. face — to point toward
  5. object — an aim
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — the season
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. wind — moving air
  10. face — part of the head
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. face — to confront
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. spring — of water
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. spring — a coil
  24. object — a thing

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