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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 116 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 · tube · season · perch · bat · wake · wax · last

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. last — to go on
  4. season — in sport
  5. last — finally
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. tube — a container
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wax — to grow
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. season — of the year
  16. last — final
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tube — the underground
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bat — for baseball

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