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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. kid — child
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. kid — to tease
  6. content — the amount
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. snap — to click
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. content — happy
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bat — the animal
  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