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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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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: bay · key · wax · pop · perch · band · cold · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. perch — the fish
  3. band — a music group
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pop — music
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. key — in music
  13. band — a ring
  14. pop — soda
  15. cold — not warm
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. pop — to visit
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wax — to grow
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — for a bird

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