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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fall — to drop
  3. race — humankind
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. race — a contest
  9. field — a subject
  10. fall — the season
  11. wax — to grow
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. deal — to handle
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — for sport
  19. kid — to tease
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. race — the arms race
  24. field — farmland

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