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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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468
Word bank
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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. track — a path
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to click
  6. race — humankind
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — to tease
  13. race — the arms race
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kid — child
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. wound — an injury
  24. saw — the tool

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