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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: cold · straw · cue · mate · bark · nail · wax · cap

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cue — for pool
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cue — a signal
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cap — a hat
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mate — to breed
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mate — a friend
  24. straw — a straw man

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