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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cap — of ice
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. toast — bread
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wax — to grow
  11. lean — thin
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. date — the fruit
  15. cap — a hat
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — to bend
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. squash — the sport
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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