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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. present — the time now
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. band — a ring
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a music group
  12. land — to come down
  13. race — the arms race
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. present — there
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. wax — to grow
  18. sharp — clever
  19. kick — in football
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. land — ground
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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