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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 116 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: staff · tear · sharp · kid · wax · mark · dip · row

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. mark — a trace
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. mark — a grade
  8. staff — a stick
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. dip — to sink
  11. row — a line
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. staff — employees
  14. row — to paddle
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wax — to grow
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. staff — employees
  19. tear — from crying
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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