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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: hand · wake · wax · cap · last · track · land · stand

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. track — to keep track
  3. hand — help
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. wake — a trail
  10. last — final
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. last — to go on
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. last — finally
  17. track — a song
  18. hand — in cards
  19. track — a path
  20. land — ground
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. stand — to bear
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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