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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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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: wind · temple · band · leaves · wax · straw · kid · spring

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. band — a ring
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spring — of water
  16. band — a music group
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. temple — a place of worship

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