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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: last · wax · mine · mark · saw · bat · pit · wake

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. wake — a trail
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. last — finally
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pit — in a race
  14. mark — a trace
  15. last — to go on
  16. mark — a grade
  17. last — final
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pit — a hole

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