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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: fork · wax · kid · swing · tear · key · snap · wind

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kid — child
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tear — from crying
  9. swing — music
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. kid — to tease
  16. swing — to play on
  17. tear — to rip
  18. key — for a lock
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. snap — to click
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — in music
  24. swing — in golf

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