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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wax · drill · cold · swing · straw · field · last · date

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. drill — army training
  3. field — farmland
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wax — to grow
  6. last — final
  7. swing — in golf
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — not warm
  11. drill — a practice
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. last — to go on
  14. cold — an illness
  15. last — finally
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. field — a subject
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. swing — to play on
  24. straw — dry grass

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