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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 116 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 · hand · shower · firm · plane · land · content · lash

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. land — ground
  4. content — the amount
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. land — a country
  13. wax — to grow
  14. firm — a company
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. plane — a tool
  19. land — to come down
  20. shower — rain
  21. firm — steady
  22. hand — help
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. firm — decided

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