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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: mark · leaves · clip · mine · wax · wind · land · spell

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. mark — a grade
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. land — ground
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. spell — a short time
  12. clip — a video
  13. spell — letters
  14. land — to come down
  15. spell — magic
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. mine — for digging
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  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