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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. wind — moving air
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — a trail
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wax — to grow
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pitch — completely
  11. race — humankind
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. race — a contest
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a music group
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wake — before a funeral

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