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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: band · tear · tube · plane · field · stock · last · wax

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. stock — goods
  3. tear — from crying
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. last — final
  6. tube — a container
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. tear — from crying
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. last — finally
  11. stock — shares
  12. band — a ring
  13. field — farmland
  14. wax — to grow
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — for sport
  17. last — to go on
  18. plane — a tool
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. tear — to rip
  23. field — a subject
  24. band — a music group

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