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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 · ball · lash · bat · cold · wave · straw · firm

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. firm — a company
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — not warm
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. ball — a dance
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. firm — steady
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. ball — a great time
  24. firm — decided

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