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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: race · kid · snap · rule · wax · net · cabinet · bat

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wax — to grow
  6. net — in sport
  7. race — the arms race
  8. snap — to click
  9. rule — government
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. net — after costs
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rule — a law
  15. kid — child
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. kid — to tease
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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