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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: hand · mine · kid · bear · straw · snap · wax · press

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. press — a publisher
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kid — to tease
  10. press — newspapers
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. kid — child
  13. press — to push
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bear — the animal
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. hand — help
  22. mine — for digging
  23. snap — to click
  24. straw — a straw man

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