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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: tear · cell · race · arm · hide · ground · wax · field

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. tear — to rip
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wax — to grow
  8. race — humankind
  9. cell — a phone
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. ground — the earth
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — for sport
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — farmland
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. race — a contest
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — a position
  23. field — a subject
  24. hide — animal skin

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