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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: cold · wax · staff · mug · wind · bat · racket · fine

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — to rob
  4. cold — an illness
  5. staff — employees
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — not warm
  8. staff — a stick
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. mug — a cup
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fine — all right
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. wind — moving air

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