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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: straw · hide · fall · row · cap · wax · dip · wound

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — of ice
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. fall — the season
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. dip — to sink
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wax — to grow
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. row — a line

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