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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: game · wake · board · wax · deal · cold · net · face

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. game — wild animals
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. net — in sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. face — to point toward
  12. game — a match
  13. cold — not warm
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. board — to get on
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. deal — to handle
  20. face — to confront
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. wake — a trail
  24. board — a committee

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