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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.

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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. land — to come down
  3. mark — a trace
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. ground — a position
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tube — a container
  9. last — to go on
  10. ground — crushed
  11. mark — a grade
  12. tube — the underground
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. ground — the earth
  15. last — final
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. land — ground
  19. wax — to grow
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. land — a country
  24. last — finally

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