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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 · arm · bay · file · pitcher · kid · land · staff

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. staff — a stick
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a line of people
  9. staff — employees
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. staff — employees
  14. wax — to grow
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. file — a tool
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. land — a country
  21. file — a document
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. kid — child

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