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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: rest · chair · dip · ground · arm · wax · kid · cold

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. rest — what's left
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. dip — to sink
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. rest — a break
  13. kid — child
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. chair — a leader
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. ground — crushed
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wax — to grow

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