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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. season — of the year
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. mug — a face
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — humankind
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. spell — letters
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mug — to rob
  16. chest — a box
  17. season — in sport
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chest — of your body
  20. race — the arms race
  21. mug — a cup
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wax — to grow
  24. spell — magic

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