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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 · rush · fall · wax · wind · cold · tube · coach

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. wax — to grow
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. tube — a container
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wind — moving air
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. snap — to click

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