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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: stand · calf · kid · cold · hand · root · wax · tube

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — the underground
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. root — of a word
  8. cold — an illness
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. hand — in cards
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — a container
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kid — to tease
  17. stand — to bear
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. hand — help
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — not warm

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