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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: race · wax · mine · perch · fan · pop · cell · last

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. last — to go on
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. perch — the fish
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. last — final
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. race — the arms race
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — soda
  17. pop — music
  18. wax — to grow
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. cell — a phone
  23. last — finally
  24. cell — in biology

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