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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. band — a ring
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wax — to grow
  14. row — a line
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. saw — the tool
  17. can — a tin
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. can — a tin
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. can — to be able to
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. band — a music group

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