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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. net — for catching
  3. race — humankind
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. race — the arms race
  6. net — in sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. net — after costs
  11. drill — the tool
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. kid — child
  18. drill — army training
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. drill — a practice
  22. race — a contest
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. patient — a sick person

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