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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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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 · current · wax · content · shower · cap · bear · rest

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. shower — rain
  3. bear — the animal
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. current — electric
  7. kid — to tease
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. current — happening now
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cap — a hat
  19. current — of water
  20. rest — a break
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bear — the animal

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