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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 · wax · lean · kick · cold · race · trunk · staff

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. staff — a stick
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. kid — to tease
  10. race — the arms race
  11. lean — to bend
  12. staff — employees
  13. kid — child
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lean — thin
  18. race — a contest
  19. kick — in football
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. race — humankind
  23. cold — not warm
  24. staff — employees

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