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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mug — a face
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. dip — to sink
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. mug — a cup
  10. wax — to grow
  11. sharp — clever
  12. field — farmland
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. field — for sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — to rob
  24. wind — moving air

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