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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. row — a line
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — rain
  6. race — humankind
  7. net — for catching
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — for sport
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. prune — to trim
  14. net — after costs
  15. row — to paddle
  16. prune — to trim
  17. court — of a king
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a hat
  21. court — of law
  22. cap — a lid
  23. net — in sport
  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