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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 116 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pop — music
  4. pop — soda
  5. cold — not warm
  6. drill — army training
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wax — to grow
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. cold — an illness
  13. race — a contest
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. pop — to visit
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — to be able to
  20. spring — a coil
  21. race — the arms race
  22. branch — a division
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — a practice

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