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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: wax · bat · press · row · kid · mine · rush · track

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. track — to keep track
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. press — to push
  9. press — newspapers
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. track — a song
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — to paddle
  16. track — a path
  17. row — a line
  18. press — a publisher
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. mine — for digging
  24. wax — for sculpting

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