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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. race — humankind
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. band — a ring
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wind — moving air
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. spell — letters
  13. capital — a city
  14. bat — the animal
  15. foot — a measure
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. band — a music group
  18. spell — magic
  19. race — a contest
  20. capital — money
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spell — a short time

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