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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cell — in biology
  4. scale — size or range
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cue — a signal
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cue — for pool
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. scale — in music
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chip — for betting
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cue — a hint
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bat — the animal
  24. squash — to crush

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