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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: bank · straw · kid · wax · mate · swing · wound · craft

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. craft — boats
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wound — an injury
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bank — for money
  11. wax — to grow
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. mate — a partner
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bank — for money
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. craft — a skill
  19. kid — child
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. swing — in golf
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bank — of a river
  24. swing — music

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