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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: ball · leaves · fall · hand · row · wax · fan · bear

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hand — help
  5. wax — to grow
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. row — a line
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fall — to drop
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. ball — a great time
  14. fall — the season
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. ball — a dance
  17. hand — in cards
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. row — to paddle
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. bear — the animal

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