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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: present · row · wax · scale · cold · straw · lie · root

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. root — the cause
  5. present — the time now
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. row — a line
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. scale — size or range
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. present — there
  13. lie — to recline
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. present — a gift
  17. scale — in music
  18. root — of a word
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wax — to grow
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. root — of a plant

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