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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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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: chest · wax · land · safe · bat · key · race · fork

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. land — a country
  4. chest — of your body
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — in music
  7. race — humankind
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. race — a contest
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bat — the animal
  21. land — ground
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — to come down

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