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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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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 · perch · cold · last · current · bat · tube · fan

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. last — to go on
  3. perch — the fish
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tube — a container
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. current — happening now
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. current — of water
  13. current — electric
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. last — final
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bat — the animal

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