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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. tube — a container
  4. net — after costs
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — not warm
  9. key — in music
  10. scale — in music
  11. tear — to rip
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. kid — to tease
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. kid — child
  18. wax — to grow
  19. net — for catching
  20. tube — the underground
  21. net — in sport
  22. key — for a lock
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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