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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. root — the cause
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. root — of a word
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. kid — child
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. root — of a plant
  16. stand — to bear
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. craft — boats
  20. craft — a skill
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. wax — to grow
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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