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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. capital — money
  3. stock — goods
  4. rock — music
  5. race — humankind
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wax — to grow
  9. last — final
  10. stock — shares
  11. rock — a stone
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. present — the time now
  15. race — a contest
  16. present — there
  17. present — a gift
  18. capital — a city
  19. last — finally
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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