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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: kid · hand · stem · tube · wax · prune · sharp · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — to come from
  5. kid — child
  6. hand — help
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. tube — a container
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. kid — to tease
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wax — to grow
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. tube — the underground
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. chip — for betting
  24. sharp — clever

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