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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: kid · mine · cap · bank · club · wind · race · wax

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cap — a lid
  4. race — humankind
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bank — for money
  10. club — for dancing
  11. mine — for digging
  12. race — a contest
  13. club — a group
  14. wax — to grow
  15. bank — for money
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — child
  24. wax — for sculpting

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