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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 116 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: squash · cold · wax · mug · kid · track · field · tear

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a song
  9. field — for sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. field — a subject
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mug — to rob
  14. wax — to grow
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. field — farmland
  17. tear — from crying
  18. track — a path
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kid — child
  22. mug — a face
  23. tear — to rip
  24. squash — the sport

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