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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: tear · snap · ball · club · rash · kid · wax · board

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. rash — a series
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. ball — a dance
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. board — to get on
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. ball — a great time
  17. wax — to grow
  18. club — for dancing
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. rash — hasty
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. club — a group

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