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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 120 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: kid · mine · wax · degree · calf · straw · face · band

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. degree — an amount
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — temperature
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. kid — to tease
  14. face — part of the head
  15. band — a music group
  16. face — to confront
  17. mine — for digging
  18. kid — child
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. band — a ring
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wax — to grow
  24. face — to point toward

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