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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: wake · file · race · wax · plane · court · land · spell

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. file — a document
  5. land — to come down
  6. wax — to grow
  7. spell — magic
  8. race — the arms race
  9. court — of law
  10. land — ground
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. file — a line of people
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. race — a contest
  19. land — a country
  20. spell — letters
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. race — humankind
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. spell — a short time

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