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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. roll — a list
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. race — humankind
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mine — for digging
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. roll — a cake
  18. shower — rain
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. coach — a trainer

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