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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  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. wax — in the ear
  2. mug — a cup
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. spring — the season
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spring — of water
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. mug — a face
  16. race — humankind
  17. stock — shares
  18. tear — from crying
  19. mug — to rob
  20. kid — child
  21. stock — goods
  22. tear — to rip
  23. stock — a soup base
  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