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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: clip · club · kid · cabinet · wax · arm · fall · bear

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — to cut
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — a group
  6. kid — child
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — a video
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. wax — to grow
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fall — the season
  22. bear — the animal
  23. club — for dancing
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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