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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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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: wax · snap · staff · wind · cold · file · bulb · fork

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. cold — an illness
  3. staff — a stick
  4. file — a document
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wind — moving air
  18. staff — employees
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. fork — in a road
  21. file — a line of people
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bulb — for light

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