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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: swing · bound · wax · kid · mouse · cold · leaves · pit

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bound — certain
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. bound — obliged
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. bound — tied together
  15. pit — in a race
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. swing — music
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pit — a hole

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