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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: scale · foot · shower · leaves · wax · saw · squash · hand

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. foot — a measure
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wax — to grow
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. hand — in cards
  10. saw — the tool
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. scale — in music
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. squash — to crush
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. scale — size or range

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