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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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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: wax · kid · cell · cue · spring · date · tear · land

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cell — in biology
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. spring — a coil
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. spring — the season
  12. land — a country
  13. cue — a signal
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. land — ground
  16. land — to come down
  17. spring — of water
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cue — for pool
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wax — to grow
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. tear — from crying

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