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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. race — the arms race
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. race — a contest
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wound — an injury
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. object — to protest
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a line of people
  16. object — an aim
  17. object — a thing
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. race — humankind
  22. file — a document
  23. bulb — for light
  24. file — a 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