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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: wound · kid · degree · stem · dip · face · straw · wax

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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 — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — to tease
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. degree — an amount
  9. face — to point toward
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. degree — temperature
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. face — to confront
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — from a university
  22. dip — to sink
  23. wax — to grow
  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