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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. field — for sport
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — farmland
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ground — the earth
  11. track — a song
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. ground — a position
  15. field — a subject
  16. dip — to sink
  17. track — a path
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rash — a series
  20. race — humankind
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ground — crushed
  24. race — a contest

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