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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a ring
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. kid — to tease
  5. press — to push
  6. wax — to grow
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. board — to get on
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. drill — army training
  12. spell — magic
  13. drill — a practice
  14. spell — letters
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. board — a committee
  17. press — newspapers
  18. drill — the tool
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. band — a music group
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. press — a publisher

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