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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: mate · wind · rush · plane · deal · scale · wax · cold

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. plane — a tool
  3. rush — hurry
  4. deal — to handle
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mate — to breed
  9. wax — to grow
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mate — a partner
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — not warm
  19. scale — size or range
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rush — a thrill

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