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

Word bank: race · lean · bank · temple · clip · fall · shower · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. race — humankind
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bank — for money
  6. race — a contest
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. lean — thin
  10. fall — the season
  11. bank — for money
  12. clip — a video
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. lean — to bend
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wax — to grow
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bank — of a river
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. fall — to drop
  24. race — the arms race

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