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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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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: wax · face · straw · band · cue · spell · date · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. cue — for pool
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wax — to grow
  6. land — ground
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spell — a short time
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. spell — letters
  12. face — to confront
  13. land — to come down
  14. band — a music group
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — a hint
  17. date — the fruit
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. spell — magic
  24. band — a ring

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