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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 120 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: stand · bank · rest · wax · cold · club · clip · leaves

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. clip — to cut
  6. club — a group
  7. wax — to grow
  8. club — for dancing
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — a break
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. bank — for money
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bank — of a river
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bank — for money
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. club — for golf

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