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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 120 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. hand — help
  4. saw — the tool
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cold — an illness
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. staff — a stick
  14. bore — to drill
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — the tool
  17. shower — rain
  18. race — a contest
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. staff — employees
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — the Cold War

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