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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wax · cold · tear · game · hand · cue · band · plane

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. band — a ring
  5. cue — a signal
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. hand — in cards
  13. tear — from crying
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cue — for pool
  16. tear — from crying
  17. plane — a tool
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. band — a music group
  24. wax — to grow

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