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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · straw · rock · kid · clip · net · court · wound

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — music
  3. clip — for paper
  4. net — for catching
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wax — to grow
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. net — after costs
  13. kid — child
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — to tease
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. rock — a stone
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. net — in sport
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. court — for sport

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