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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: bat · kid · content · cold · wax · object · mark · club

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mark — a grade
  9. club — a group
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. object — a thing
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mark — a trace
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kid — child
  19. object — an aim
  20. content — happy
  21. kid — to tease
  22. object — to protest
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wax — to grow

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