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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: land · face · wake · stock · wax · spring · date · bat

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. spring — the season
  7. wax — to grow
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. spring — a coil
  10. stock — goods
  11. land — a country
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — to confront
  19. wake — a trail
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. stock — shares
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. face — part of the head

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