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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 120 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wax — to grow
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wake — a trail
  5. race — humankind
  6. net — after costs
  7. mate — a partner
  8. rush — hurry
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. net — in sport
  20. mate — a friend
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mine — for digging
  24. net — for catching

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