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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 120 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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. can — to be able to
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bound — certain
  6. tear — to rip
  7. race — the arms race
  8. can — a tin
  9. spring — a coil
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for golf
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — a group
  17. bound — obliged
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. wax — to grow
  23. club — for dancing
  24. tear — from crying

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