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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a cup
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. root — of a word
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. cue — a signal
  10. last — final
  11. wax — to grow
  12. last — to go on
  13. cue — a hint
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cue — for pool
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. cold — an illness
  20. root — of a plant
  21. last — finally
  22. mug — a face
  23. tube — the underground
  24. root — the cause

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