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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. wax — to grow
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. race — a contest
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cold — an illness
  14. squash — the sport
  15. mark — a grade
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mark — a trace

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