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

Word bank: kid · wax · lean · kick · cold · race

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. kid — child
  3. race — a contest
  4. kick — in football
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. lean — to bend
  14. race — the arms race
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. race — humankind

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