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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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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: cue · fall · saw · scale · stock · wax · wind · race

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. cue — a signal
  3. fall — to drop
  4. race — the arms race
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. race — humankind
  7. wind — moving air
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wax — to grow
  11. cue — a hint
  12. fall — the season
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. scale — in music
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. race — a contest
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cue — for pool

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