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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: mine · wax · stem · suit · cold · coach · land · fan

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. suit — to fit
  5. mine — for digging
  6. stem — to come from
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. land — a country
  10. suit — clothes
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — ground
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. suit — in cards
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — to come down

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