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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: present · land · bound · band · pop · fork · wax · ground

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. pop — to visit
  3. present — there
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bound — certain
  6. ground — the earth
  7. land — to come down
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. land — a country
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. band — a music group
  13. land — ground
  14. fork — in a road
  15. present — a gift
  16. bound — tied together
  17. ground — a position
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bound — obliged
  20. present — the time now
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. band — a ring
  24. fork — a garden tool

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