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

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. present — a gift
  5. rest — what's left
  6. race — the arms race
  7. root — of a word
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — a break
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. race — a contest
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. root — of a plant
  14. fork — in a road
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. last — final
  17. present — there
  18. root — the cause
  19. present — the time now
  20. last — to go on
  21. wax — to grow
  22. race — humankind
  23. last — finally
  24. straw — dry grass

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