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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: spring · sharp · drill · wax · last · wound · chair · kid

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chair — a leader
  4. sharp — clever
  5. drill — a practice
  6. last — final
  7. kid — child
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. spring — of water
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. last — finally
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. last — to go on
  20. drill — the tool
  21. spring — the season
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wax — for sculpting

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