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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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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: cold · pit · content · rule · wax · stand · net · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. net — after costs
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wax — to grow
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. net — in sport
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — in a race
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — government
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. rule — a law
  21. stand — to bear
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — for catching
  24. wax — in the ear

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