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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. race — humankind
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. pop — music
  6. last — final
  7. bat — the animal
  8. last — finally
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bear — the animal
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. capital — money
  14. wax — to grow
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. race — a contest
  17. pop — soda
  18. bear — the animal
  19. capital — a city
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. race — the arms race
  23. last — to go on
  24. bat — in an idiom

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