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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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Word bank
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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kick — in football
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mark — a grade
  8. root — of a plant
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. root — of a word
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a city
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. root — the cause
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. capital — money
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wax — to grow

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