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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: key · straw · club · tear · land · squash · stem · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. club — for golf
  3. squash — the sport
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. key — for a lock
  7. club — a group
  8. land — ground
  9. land — a country
  10. tear — from crying
  11. key — in music
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. squash — to crush
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. key — the most important part
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. club — for dancing
  19. tear — from crying
  20. land — to come down
  21. tear — to rip
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. stem — to come from
  24. straw — a straw man

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