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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: chest · wax · last · spring · rule · tear · track · wake

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wake — a trail
  8. tear — from crying
  9. track — to keep track
  10. chest — a box
  11. track — a path
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. rule — government
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. track — a song
  17. last — final
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. rule — a law
  20. last — finally
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. wax — to grow

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