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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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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: face · swing · root · cold · fall · wax · saw · mate

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. saw — the tool
  3. mate — a partner
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. face — to confront
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. fall — to drop
  10. face — to point toward
  11. fall — the season
  12. root — the cause
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. fall — to drop
  16. face — part of the head
  17. mate — a friend
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mate — to breed
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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