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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: pound · racket · kid · cold · roll · race · wax · straw

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — not warm
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. kid — child
  20. roll — a cake
  21. race — the arms race
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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