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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. face — to point toward
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. key — the most important part
  8. row — to paddle
  9. shower — to wash
  10. race — humankind
  11. wax — to grow
  12. key — for a lock
  13. race — the arms race
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. face — part of the head
  16. wind — moving air
  17. race — a contest
  18. face — to confront
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — a line
  21. key — in music
  22. shower — rain
  23. saw — the tool
  24. wax — for sculpting

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