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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 120 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 · pit · rush · wax · rule · wind · net · drill

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rush — hurry
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pit — in a race
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rule — a law
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. drill — army training
  14. net — after costs
  15. rule — government
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. land — ground
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. land — a country
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — for catching
  24. drill — a practice

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