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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · race · wind · cell · drill · file

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wax — to grow
  4. race — humankind
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. race — a contest
  9. file — a document
  10. drill — a practice
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. drill — army training
  13. race — the arms race
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison

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