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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: drill · present · wax · leaves · nail · spring · last · game

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. spring — of water
  3. wax — to grow
  4. drill — the tool
  5. last — final
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. game — a match
  9. spring — a coil
  10. present — a gift
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. last — finally
  18. present — there
  19. spring — the season
  20. present — the time now
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. drill — army training

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