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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.

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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: cell · safe · clip · mine · kid · bore · kick · wax

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — a video
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. kick — in football
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kid — child
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bore — to drill
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cell — a phone
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. clip — for paper
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — to tease

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