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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: pop · cap · wax · nail · kid · spring · bore · clip

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. kid — child
  3. bore — to tire
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. pop — to visit
  7. cap — a hat
  8. kid — to tease
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bore — to drill
  11. cap — of ice
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pop — music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — the season
  20. clip — a video
  21. pop — soda
  22. cap — a lid
  23. spring — of water
  24. clip — for paper

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