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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. race — humankind
  4. last — to go on
  5. press — newspapers
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. root — the cause
  12. press — a publisher
  13. content — happy
  14. root — of a word
  15. press — to push
  16. last — final
  17. march — the month
  18. last — finally
  19. content — the amount
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. march — the month
  23. root — of a plant
  24. march — music

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