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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 124 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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. wax — to grow
  3. spring — a coil
  4. track — a song
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. track — a path
  8. tube — the underground
  9. spring — the season
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. tube — a container
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. track — to keep track
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cold — not warm
  19. race — the arms race
  20. branch — a division
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. branch — of a bank

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