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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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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: craft · land · cold · bowl · wax · fork · object · ruler

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. cold — not warm
  5. land — ground
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. craft — boats
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. land — a country
  14. fork — in a road
  15. object — to protest
  16. land — to come down
  17. object — a thing
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. object — an aim
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. bowl — to roll

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