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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. cap — a hat
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. snap — to click
  7. staff — employees
  8. race — the arms race
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. race — humankind
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wax — to grow
  16. cap — of ice
  17. ground — a position
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. chair — a leader
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. race — a contest
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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