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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: wax · ball · spring · fall · wind · rule · face · stem

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. ball — a dance
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. spring — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. face — to confront
  6. spring — of water
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — a law
  9. ball — a great time
  10. face — part of the head
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. face — to point toward
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wax — to grow
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. fall — the season
  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