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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: face · bank · rest · tear · cold · wax · track · content

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. face — part of the head
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. content — happy
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bank — of a river
  10. rest — what's left
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bank — for money
  13. track — a path
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — to confront
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bank — for money
  19. tear — to rip
  20. track — to keep track
  21. content — the amount
  22. cold — not warm
  23. track — a song
  24. wax — for sculpting

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