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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: cabinet · scale · row · wind · snap · kick · cell · wax

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cell — a phone
  3. kick — in football
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. scale — in music
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wax — to grow
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. cell — in biology

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