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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: wax · cue · pound · cold · straw · game · stand · stem

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. cue — a hint
  6. stand — to bear
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cold — an illness
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cue — for pool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stem — to come from
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. pound — for dogs

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