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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spell · wound · rest · ground · bulb · wax · cold · band

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spell — magic
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. rest — a break
  12. spell — letters
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. band — a music group
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wax — to grow
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — a position

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