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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: ground · land · bat · wax · present · fork · fall · wound

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. land — to come down
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. ground — crushed
  11. land — ground
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. present — there
  14. ground — the earth
  15. land — a country
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. present — a gift
  20. wax — to grow
  21. fork — in a road
  22. ground — a position
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bat — the animal

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