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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · rest · straw · wax · kid · cell

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. wax — to grow
  3. rest — what's left
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rest — a break
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. kid — child
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rest — what's left
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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