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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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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 · kid · file · kick · staff · wax

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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 — for sculpting
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — employees
  5. wax — to grow
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kid — child
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. staff — a stick
  10. file — a tool
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. kick — in football
  18. wind — to turn a key

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