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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: cold · bank · wax · ball · land · snap · present · roll

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. roll — a cake
  3. wax — to grow
  4. snap — to click
  5. land — a country
  6. present — a gift
  7. roll — a list
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bank — for money
  10. land — to come down
  11. ball — a dance
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. present — the time now
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bank — for money
  19. bank — of a river
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ball — a great time
  23. present — there
  24. land — ground

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