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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. kid — child
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wax — to grow
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — music
  10. hand — in cards
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rest — what's left
  17. branch — a division
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pop — to visit
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rest — a break
  24. hand — help

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