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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. race — a contest
  4. stock — shares
  5. spring — the season
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. race — humankind
  9. kid — child
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — an aim
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — of water
  16. stock — goods
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. object — to protest
  19. wax — to grow
  20. net — in sport
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. race — the arms race
  24. lash — an eyelash

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