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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · staff · wax · cold · bat · content · shower · kick

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. sharp — clever
  6. cold — an illness
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. shower — to wash
  11. content — happy
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kick — in football
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. staff — employees
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. staff — a stick
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — for baseball

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