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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: wave · wake · game · pitcher · wind · wax · kid · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. game — wild animals
  5. date — the fruit
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. game — a match
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kid — child
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wake — a trail
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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