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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 116 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: bark · ground · court · fine · race · nail · wax · clip

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fine — all right
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. race — a contest
  9. bark — to shout
  10. clip — a video
  11. ground — crushed
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. clip — for paper
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. ground — a position
  16. court — for sport
  17. race — the arms race
  18. court — of a king
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. clip — to cut
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. court — of law
  24. bark — of a tree

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