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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. land — to come down
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. race — humankind
  12. land — a country
  13. race — a contest
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. game — a match
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. game — wild animals
  21. cell — a phone
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — ground

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