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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: club · kid · tube · shower · leaves · racket · bat · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. tube — the underground
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. kid — child
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. club — a group
  10. tube — a container
  11. shower — rain
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. shower — to wash
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. bat — the animal
  21. club — for golf
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — for dancing

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