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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: clip · wax · chair · current · kid · racket · roll · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — happening now
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — to tease
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a list
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. current — electric
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. wax — to grow
  13. kid — child
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. roll — a cake
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. clip — a video
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — not warm
  22. current — of water
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — in the ear

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