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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: mine · pop · leaves · kid · last · wax · wound · saw

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. last — to go on
  6. wax — to grow
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pop — soda
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. kid — child
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. last — final
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. kid — to tease
  16. last — finally
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pop — music
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. wound — an injury

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