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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 · wound · cell · kid · bound · wax · chip · craft

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. chip — for betting
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wound — an injury
  9. craft — a skill
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — certain
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wax — to grow
  16. chip — to eat
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. craft — boats
  24. wax — for sculpting

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