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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 120 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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. mine — for digging
  3. race — the arms race
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. squash — to crush
  6. race — humankind
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. race — a contest
  10. kid — to tease
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. squash — the sport
  13. stand — to bear
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. ground — a position
  16. kid — child
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ground — crushed
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ground — the earth

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