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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: tear · wax · spring · cap · racket · chip · land · band

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. band — a ring
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wax — to grow
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chip — for betting
  10. spring — a coil
  11. chip — to eat
  12. spring — the season
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cap — a lid
  16. spring — of water
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. tear — from crying
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. cap — a hat
  23. wax — in the ear
  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