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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: tear · scale · lash · kid · cold · leaves · mug · wax

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mug — a cup
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — to grow
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. mug — a face
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. mug — to rob
  13. tear — from crying
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. scale — in music
  19. kid — child
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. scale — for weighing

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