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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — to grow
  9. key — in music
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wound — an injury
  15. key — for a lock
  16. chip — to eat
  17. fork — in a road
  18. key — the most important part
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. cold — an illness
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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