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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 120 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: season · land · wax · last · tube · deal · chair · straw

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. last — to go on
  4. land — ground
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. land — to come down
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tube — the underground
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. deal — to handle
  13. tube — a container
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — in sport
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. season — of the year
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. land — a country
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wax — to grow

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