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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: rush · clip · wax · coach · foot · rock · face · land

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. land — ground
  3. face — part of the head
  4. wax — to grow
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. face — to confront
  8. land — to come down
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. face — to point toward
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. foot — a measure
  14. rock — music
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. rock — a stone
  17. clip — to cut
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. land — a country
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. clip — a video
  24. rush — hurry

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