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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: bank · saw · game · nail · wax · race · chest · cold

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. race — the arms race
  5. game — wild animals
  6. chest — of your body
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bank — for money
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. chest — a box
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. race — humankind
  18. game — a match
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — of a river

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