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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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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: shower · mine · wax · ground · race · tear · mouse · pound

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. race — a contest
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — crushed
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — to grow
  11. shower — rain
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mine — for digging
  16. race — humankind
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pound — a weight
  19. ground — the earth
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — a position
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. wax — in the ear

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