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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 116 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: wound · wax · key · field · fall · wind · mark · shower

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wax — to grow
  4. field — a subject
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — for sport
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — rain
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mark — a trace
  14. field — farmland
  15. wind — moving air
  16. key — for a lock
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. key — in music
  21. fall — the season
  22. wound — an injury
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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