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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: chest · key · wake · snap · ground · can · cold · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. ground — crushed
  6. snap — to click
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ground — a position
  10. can — a tin
  11. key — for a lock
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. ground — the earth
  17. chest — of your body
  18. can — to be able to
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. key — the most important part
  21. can — a tin
  22. chest — a box
  23. key — in music
  24. cold — not warm

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