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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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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 · spring · wind · leaves · rush · wake · last · hand

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. hand — help
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. last — to go on
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — of water
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. rush — hurry
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wax — to grow
  23. spring — the season
  24. wind — moving air

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