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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: hand · row · wax · pitcher · branch · bulb · dip · kid

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. hand — help
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bulb — for light
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bulb — for light
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — to grow
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. hand — in cards
  21. branch — a division
  22. row — a line
  23. dip — to sink
  24. row — to paddle

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