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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
468
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: current · cold · wax · band · clip · wind · stock · cabinet

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. clip — a video
  4. current — happening now
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. clip — for paper
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stock — goods
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. current — of water
  18. current — electric
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cold — an illness
  22. band — a ring
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wax — to grow

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