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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.

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: game · stock · wax · cold · wind · wound · cue · ground

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a signal
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stock — goods
  7. wax — to grow
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. ground — a position
  13. stock — shares
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cue — a hint
  20. ground — the earth
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wind — moving air

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