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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: wind · straw · game · root · kid · wax · spell · ruler

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wind — moving air
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wax — to grow
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. spell — a short time
  9. kid — to tease
  10. spell — magic
  11. game — wild animals
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. game — a match
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. root — of a plant
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. root — of a word
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. root — the cause
  24. kid — child

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