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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: race · ball · wax · rule · rush · degree · cell · saw

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. wax — to grow
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. rule — a law
  7. ball — a dance
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rule — government
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. saw — the tool
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rush — hurry
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ball — a great time
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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