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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 120 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: track · row · cue · court · kid · clip · wind · wax

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. track — to keep track
  4. cue — a signal
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. row — to paddle
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. track — a song
  14. cue — for pool
  15. kid — child
  16. court — of law
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — a line
  20. court — for sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. track — a path
  23. cue — a hint
  24. clip — for paper

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