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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. present — there
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — to grow
  5. scale — size or range
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. present — the time now
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. kid — to tease
  12. field — farmland
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. branch — a division
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rest — a break
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. kid — child
  20. scale — in music
  21. rest — what's left
  22. present — a gift
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wax — for sculpting

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