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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 124 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. current — happening now
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — what's left
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. sharp — clever
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. current — of water
  21. kid — child
  22. rest — what's left
  23. date — the fruit
  24. current — electric

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