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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: land · key · tube · wax · drill · row · hand · ground

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. drill — army training
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. row — a line
  5. key — for a lock
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. land — to come down
  8. drill — a practice
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. key — the most important part
  11. ground — a position
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tube — a container
  14. key — in music
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. ground — crushed
  17. hand — in cards
  18. land — ground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. drill — the tool
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wax — to grow
  23. hand — help
  24. land — a country

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