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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. charge — electricity
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. race — the arms race
  9. last — final
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. race — humankind
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. charge — in control
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. last — to go on
  21. race — a contest
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. charge — a price

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