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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: wax · race · season · mouse · cold · cabinet · wind · chest

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. wind — to turn a key
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — not warm
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. season — in sport
  7. wind — moving air
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. season — of the year
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. race — a contest
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — humankind
  23. wind — moving air
  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