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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cold — not warm
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. craft — boats
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. wax — to grow
  14. kid — to tease
  15. season — of the year
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. deal — to handle
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. craft — a skill
  23. season — in sport
  24. race — humankind

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