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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. wax — to grow
  3. season — in sport
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. current — of water
  6. race — humankind
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. current — happening now
  9. season — of the year
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. race — a contest
  13. row — a line
  14. current — electric
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wound — an injury
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. tube — a container
  23. row — to paddle
  24. race — the arms race

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