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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 120 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: hand · spell · wax · row · net · fall · kid · fork

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. row — a line
  4. spell — letters
  5. fall — to drop
  6. row — to paddle
  7. kid — to tease
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spell — a short time
  11. kid — child
  12. hand — in cards
  13. net — in sport
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. net — after costs
  16. fall — the season
  17. spell — magic
  18. hand — help
  19. net — for catching
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. fall — to drop

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