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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. row — a line
  3. wax — to grow
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. kid — child
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. sharp — clever
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. sharp — exactly

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