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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. rush — hurry
  3. race — humankind
  4. game — wild animals
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. game — a match
  13. race — a contest
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cell — in biology
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cell — a phone
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. cell — in a prison

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