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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: wax · cold · wound · leaves · fine · key · wake · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. fine — high quality
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. wake — a trail
  8. last — finally
  9. key — the most important part
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — all right
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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