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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: scale · rest · date · racket · straw · kid · wax · fall

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. fall — to drop
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. scale — in music
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. fall — the season
  9. date — the fruit
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rest — what's left
  13. scale — size or range
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kid — child
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rest — a break
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. scale — for weighing

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