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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pop — to visit
  5. last — to go on
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cap — a hat
  8. race — humankind
  9. board — a committee
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. race — a contest
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. last — final
  16. cap — a lid
  17. board — to get on
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. pop — soda
  20. wax — to grow
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. race — the arms race
  23. last — finally
  24. pop — music

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