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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: land · coach · pound · wax · sharp · current · face · tear

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. land — ground
  7. sharp — clever
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. land — to come down
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pound — a weight
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. current — of water
  15. face — to confront
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tear — from crying
  18. face — to point toward
  19. land — a country
  20. wax — to grow
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. current — happening now
  24. wax — for sculpting

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