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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. can — a tin
  4. race — humankind
  5. can — to be able to
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. land — a country
  11. wax — to grow
  12. craft — a skill
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. land — to come down
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. band — a ring
  17. race — a contest
  18. tear — from crying
  19. craft — boats
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. can — a tin
  22. race — the arms race
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wound — an injury

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