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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: straw · cell · plane · rash · wax · arm · race · clip

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — a contest
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. rash — a series
  10. clip — to cut
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cell — in biology
  15. clip — for paper
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. plane — a tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. rash — hasty
  22. cell — a phone
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. plane — an aircraft

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