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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. race — the arms race
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. degree — temperature
  7. race — humankind
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wax — to grow
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. degree — an amount
  13. race — a contest
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. date — the fruit
  19. kick — in football
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cold — an illness

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