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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: ground · wax · land · game · face · hand · net · wake

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. net — in sport
  3. ground — the earth
  4. land — ground
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ground — a position
  8. hand — in cards
  9. net — for catching
  10. ground — crushed
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. net — after costs
  13. wake — a trail
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. land — to come down
  17. face — to confront
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. game — a match
  20. wax — to grow
  21. land — a country
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. game — wild animals
  24. face — to point toward

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