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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: swing · wax · cold · land · lie · present · fork · sharp

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. present — the time now
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. present — there
  7. swing — music
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. land — ground
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. present — a gift
  14. sharp — clever
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — not warm
  17. swing — to play on
  18. fork — in a road
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wax — to grow
  21. lie — to recline
  22. land — to come down
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. land — a country

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