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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: wax · band · ground · lie · cap · tube · hide · sharp

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. ground — crushed
  5. lie — to recline
  6. wax — to grow
  7. band — a ring
  8. cap — a hat
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. tube — the underground
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cap — a lid
  14. tube — a container
  15. ground — the earth
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — clever
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. band — a music group
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. ground — a position
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. cap — of ice

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