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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. kid — child
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pound — a weight
  10. race — humankind
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. lean — thin
  16. race — a contest
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cold — an illness
  23. shower — rain
  24. hand — help

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