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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · land · wind · bore · clip · ball · net · march

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. ball — a dance
  4. clip — a video
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — the month
  8. wax — to grow
  9. net — after costs
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. clip — to cut
  15. march — music
  16. net — for catching
  17. bore — to tire
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. ball — a great time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. land — a country
  23. march — the month
  24. net — in sport

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