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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: land · game · wax · kick · present · ground · rash · band

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rash — hasty
  4. ground — crushed
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. ground — a position
  7. rash — a series
  8. land — ground
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. game — wild animals
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — in football
  16. present — the time now
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — to grow
  19. land — to come down
  20. present — a gift
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — a match
  24. present — there

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