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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. club — a group
  8. cold — an illness
  9. swing — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. swing — in golf
  15. club — for golf
  16. kid — to tease
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — of a word
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wax — to grow
  21. root — the cause
  22. club — for dancing
  23. swing — to play on
  24. kid — child

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