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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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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — not warm
  7. can — a tin
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cap — of ice
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. can — to be able to
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cap — a lid
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. can — a tin
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cap — a hat
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. hand — help
  24. straw — dry grass

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