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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. stand — to bear
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a document
  9. land — to come down
  10. file — a line of people
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. land — a country
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kid — child
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wax — to grow
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. land — ground

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