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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: rush · mine · field · root · wax · last · calf · cold

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. last — final
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. last — finally
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. field — a subject
  17. root — the cause
  18. last — to go on
  19. field — for sport
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. field — farmland
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. mine — for digging
  24. root — of a word

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