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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: bat · spring · wind · wax · spell · cue · row · last

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spell — magic
  4. wax — to grow
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — the season
  8. last — final
  9. row — a line
  10. spring — of water
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cue — for pool
  17. last — to go on
  18. cue — a signal
  19. last — finally
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cue — a hint
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spring — a coil
  24. row — a quarrel

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