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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. squash — to crush
  3. rash — hasty
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. race — a contest
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. race — the arms race
  8. capital — a city
  9. race — humankind
  10. sharp — clever
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. wound — an injury
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wax — to grow
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rash — a series
  21. wound — an injury
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. rash — on the skin

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