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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: fork · wax · kid · swing · tear · key

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kid — to tease
  3. key — for a lock
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. key — in music
  6. swing — in golf
  7. tear — from crying
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. kid — child
  12. key — the most important part
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. tear — from crying
  16. swing — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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