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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 116 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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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: snap · ball · wax · last · tube · cold · wake · rest

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. tube — the underground
  6. snap — to click
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. last — final
  11. ball — a great time
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — to go on
  15. rest — a break
  16. last — finally
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. tube — a container
  22. ball — a dance
  23. wax — to grow
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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