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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: straw · present · bat · kid · suit · wax · bear · row

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — to grow
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. row — a line
  6. present — a gift
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bear — the animal
  11. suit — clothes
  12. present — there
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. present — the time now
  18. suit — to fit
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. suit — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bear — the animal
  24. row — to paddle

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