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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. row — a line
  3. race — a contest
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. file — a tool
  8. mark — a trace
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a document
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. file — a line of people
  17. sharp — clever
  18. dip — to sink
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. race — humankind
  23. mark — a grade
  24. dip — to dunk

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