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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cell — a phone
  6. race — the arms race
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. craft — a skill
  9. bat — the animal
  10. race — humankind
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. sharp — clever
  16. kid — child
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cell — in biology
  19. craft — boats
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — to tease
  23. wax — to grow
  24. stem — of a plant

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