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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. current — electric
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. kid — child
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. net — in sport
  13. wax — to grow
  14. net — after costs
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. current — happening now
  20. cold — not warm
  21. branch — a division
  22. kid — to tease
  23. net — for catching
  24. current — of water

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