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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: cue · hand · wax · mine · jam · cold · bat · craft

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. cue — for pool
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. wax — to grow
  10. hand — help
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — boats
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. craft — a skill
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cue — a signal
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hand — in cards

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