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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: band · mate · snap · field · last · key · net · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. key — for a lock
  3. field — farmland
  4. last — final
  5. net — in sport
  6. key — in music
  7. key — the most important part
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. mate — a partner
  15. snap — to click
  16. field — a subject
  17. net — for catching
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. net — after costs
  20. band — a music group
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. band — a ring
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. field — for 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