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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: nail · lean · bat · land · row · bound · kid · wax

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. land — to come down
  4. bound — tied together
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. kid — to tease
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — certain
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a line
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. lean — thin
  22. kid — child
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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